Born Lucky
by enchanted isabella
Summary: In a world where Aang could not defeat Ozai, Azula is the new Fire Lord and Ozai is the Phoenix King. However, Ozai has rendered Azula's destiny obsolete- there is no point of a Fire Lord if there is a Phoenix King, and Azula knows this and resents it. She has to turn to some unlikely allies if she wants to regain the throne. (Azula-centric, with Tyzula, Maiko, Kataang)
1. chapter one

'I just think,' said Azula slowly, choosing her words carefully, 'that I deserve a little more credit for coming up with your strategies.'

She knew immediately it was the wrong thing to say when Ozai's golden eyes flashed dangerously. 'Don't kid yourself,' he said deceptively calmly. 'You didn't come up with any one of my plans. You merely advised me. I and I alone am responsible for the plans and tactics we have implemented to eradicate the rebellions now that the war has finished, and you would be wise not to forget that.'

Azula's eyes widened, evidently not expecting such a reaction. 'But Father, I only asked for credit where credit is due! I was the one who conquered Ba Sing Se, when even your own brother couldn't penetrate its walls! It's because of me that so many rebellions in the name of the slain Avatar have been quashed! I deserve-'

Her voice faltered weakly at an ominous look from her father. 'You deserve what, Azula?' he asked softly, the tone reminiscent of how lightly predators trod right before they pounced on their prey.

'I-' she hated herself for cracking so easily, for never being able to stand up to her father. 'I just...' she trailed off, despising herself for her inability to meet his cold eyes. 'I apologize, Father. That was... out of line. What I just said.'

Agni, she hated herself so much.

Her eyes finally flickered up tentatively to see Ozai looking down upon her with a humourless smile. 'It was,' he finally concluded after what seemed like an eternity. 'But I forgive you. I know you are just tired.'

Azula had never been more awake and full of rage in her life, which was saying a lot, but Ozai's tone left no room for argument. As it always did. She ducked her head down respectfully, and forced the words out through gritted teeth, 'Yes, Father,' despite the fact that every second she stood there and took her father's demeaning words lying down felt like hot pokers were being jammed into her skin.

'Go to bed,' Ozai commanded firmly. 'It's late. I'll have the maids make you a nice breakfast when you wake up. But tomorrow, you're not going to attend the war meeting. I can't let this kind of... rebellious behaviour go unpunished.'

Azula's eyes flashed in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Ozai's own murderous glare, something that was enough to send grown men running. Like father, like daughter. But she swallowed her pride bitterly and nodded, accepting her punishment despite how harshly unfair it was, and stalked out of the room.

Once she was in her bedroom, she ripped her crown out of her hair, unraveling her signature tight topknot, and threw it on the bed. What was the point of having a crown if she didn't even have a say in anything, despite being crowned Fire Lord? She didn't even have the crown that Fire Lords were meant to wear- that was still pinned to the top of her father's head. All she had was her old princess crown, and maybe to some people that symbolized power, but Azula could only be reminded of how perpetually helpless she was whenever she looked at it. She was Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, and yet a single berating word from her father was enough to silence her. This was not the way things were supposed to have turned out after the end of the war.

_Although_, thought Azula resentfully, _what did I honestly expect? By crowning himself the Phoenix King, Father successfully made my destiny as Fire Lord completely useless. Obsolete. _She remembered with a bitter tang how very narrowly she'd defeated her traitorous brother and that water peasant, and how it had been sheer, dumb luck that had saved her skin when her lightning had somehow managed to strike them both down. She could chalk up the literal lucky strike to maybe raw talent she'd never known she'd possessed if she really felt like she needed an ego boost, but although lying to others was a specialty of hers, she had never been good at lying to herself. Deep down, Azula knew that she'd just gotten lucky in the final Agni Kai between her, Zuko and Katara, and she hated herself for losing power at the last minute.

She'd remembered thinking that she'd never felt so powerless in her life. She'd remembered making a silent vow to herself to do everything she could to never feel that way again, and every day she spent cooped up in the palace she was breaking it.

Father was afraid of her. She could see it, just barely, in his eyes whenever he looked at her. He was afraid that she'd basically singlehandedly conquered Ba Sing Se- because Mai and Ty Lee had been really no help, to no one's surprise- he was afraid that she'd defeated two powerful benders in an Agni Kai, he was afraid because she could bend blue fire and no one else could, he was afraid because she was a prodigy and she wasn't, he was _afraid._ And he was stripping all her power away because of it.

In a way, Azula felt oddly flattered. Father at least thought she was a worthy enough opponent to try and restrain, or else he wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to undermine her as just a pretty, vapid princess in front of the war council. And to claim all her ideas as his own was a brilliant strategy, Azula had to admit, designed to make his generals mistrust the few decisions she was allowed to take credit for herself and dismiss them as merely flimsy strategies from someone less educated and less experienced than they were.

_Who is in control here?_ Azula wanted to scream at the generals. She was the Fire Lord, although that title held as much meaning as her darling brother Zuko's prince status these days. Still, she commanded respect. Or at least, she used to, before her own father decided to turn against her and undermine her in front of everyone who would otherwise have respected her. She felt scared, and powerless, and it was almost laughable that Father seemed to be scared of her when she was nothing more than a fourteen-year-old girl who was basically grounded- the rule that she was not allowed to leave the palace was implemented after an assassination attempt that Azula strongly suspected had just been an elaborate ruse planted by her father as an excuse to keep her under house arrest and in his sight at all times.

Or maybe she was really just going paranoid. How could her own father be plotting against her, after all?

Still, she couldn't dismiss the unnerving thought from her mind.

'I really need a therapist,' Azula muttered to herself, as she slipped out of her armour and into scarlet silk pyjamas. She ran her hands through her silky black hair and tried not to feel too hopeless. If her father really was plotting against her, then it meant... she had really no one to turn to. Mai and Ty Lee were imprisoned in the Boiling Rock and Zuko was off gallivanting with what was left of Team Avatar after Aang died, and they were really the only people she'd had around her growing up.

A surge of fury rose up in her like lava ready to explode when she thought about Mai and Ty Lee. They were supposed to have been her closest friends, ready to die for her. Instead, they chose her brother over her. They chose the losing side, and Azula was not sorry that they were currently rotting away in prison. They deserved it. They deserved it.

Her fists clenched as she got into bed, pulling the blankets over her none too gently. 'No, _you_ miscalculated,' she breathed to a non-existent Mai. 'You should have feared me more.'

For a moment, Azula imagined Mai's stony face staring back at her. But then she blinked, and the image was gone. Squeezing her eyes tightly, she rolled over and wished for sleep to come quickly.

These days, Azula didn't like being left alone with her thoughts.

* * *

No one had ever warned Mai and Ty Lee about how bitterly cold the Boiling Rock was.

'It's supposed to be called the Boiling Rock, not the Freezing Rock,' whined Ty Lee annoyingly as they swept the courtyard. 'Why is it so cold? Can't we ask the guards to turn up the heat a little?'

'You already flirted with half of them to get us imported fire flakes from Caldera,' Mai said dryly as she barely touched the floor with lazy, exaggerated sweeping motions of her broom that were probably not intentional. She genuinely had no idea how to use a broom, being a nobleman's daughter, and she really didn't care enough to find out how anyway. 'Besides, how do you expect them to turn up the heat in an open-air courtyard?'

'I don't know, I'm sure they'll find a way if they really tried,' pouted Ty Lee. Then, in a quieter tone, 'I really thought Azula would be coming for us, you know.'

Mai abruptly stopped sweeping. 'Don't ever say that again,' she said coldly, glaring sharper daggers at Ty Lee than the ones she threw.

'Why?' Ty Lee pressed.

'You're giving me false hope,' Mai spat out, giving up completely on sweeping and instead throwing her broom to the floor, where it clattered loudly. 'You with your disgusting optimism.' She shuddered, as if an upbeat attitude was something she found physically repulsive. 'We've been stuck in prison for a month and a half. If she wanted to come, I'm sure she'd have already done so by now.'

'Maybe she has other obligations to attend to first,' said Ty Lee softly, but even she wasn't convincing herself. 'We're her childhood friends, that has to count for something at least.' She averted her grey eyes and continued sweeping, head tucked down.

Mai sighed, feeling a wave of guilt crash over her for crushing Ty Lee's hopes so callously. She sat down and stared at the stars glimmering in the dark sky. They were the only ones in the courtyard, being on duty for the prisoner night shift, and the air was peaceful, quiet and tranquil, a stark contrast with both of their moods. 'I just don't see why she'd come, Ty Lee,' Mai said honestly. 'We did betray her. We committed treason. Technically, the punishment for that is execution, but instead we're stuck here for some goddamned reason. Maybe Azula just didn't care enough to bother to go through with the whole process.'

A clattering sound jolted Mai from her thoughts. She looked up, taken aback when she realized that it had been the sound of Ty Lee's broom falling forgotten to the floor.

'No, _you_ committed treason,' Ty Lee seethed, voice trembling with emotion as she pointed a shaky finger at Mai, who had genuinely never seen her become so angry so quickly and was quite taken aback. _'You_ were the one who decided to risk everything for a jerk who dumped you by letter! _You_ were the one who decided to let them get away because of some stupid crush you still harboured! _You_ were the one who decided to disobey the princess of the Fire Nation! _I_ was just saving your skin because I was trying to be a good friend, and look where that got me! Here! In prison! I wasn't meant for prison- my skin is too dry and I miss my moisturizer, and none of the guards will get it for me!'

Mai stood up suddenly, jaw hardening. 'Oh, I'm _so_ sorry you've had to deal with dry skin,' she said sarcastically. 'That must be a nightmare. Look, no one asked you to save me, okay? And if you'd known you'd regret it now, maybe you shouldn't have done it then! You got yourself into this mess. Don't blame me for all your problems, because I don't regret saving Zuko. I didn't do it because he was my first crush- I did it because for once in my life, I was trying to do something _decent.'_

Those words seemed to strike a chord with Ty Lee, because her eyes softened as she looked at Mai. 'Look,' she sighed. 'I don't regret saving you. I'll never regret saving you, and I don't want you to ever think that. But sometimes I just wish-' she paused, waving her hand around inexplicably- 'sometimes I just wish the consequences of your actions hadn't lead to this, you know?' she finished, gesturing around them at their dreary surroundings. 'In case you haven't noticed, I don't really like being stuck in prison.'

'So I heard,' grimaced Mai, causing Ty Lee to laugh. She sat down again, ignoring the pain in her back from standing up and doing this manual labour meant for servants for too long. 'I don't think Azula will come.'

Ty Lee's laughter abruptly stopped, and she tucked her legs in to sit down beside Mai.

'But between you and me,' Mai whispered, so softly that Ty Lee almost couldn't catch it, 'I really hope she does.'

And she placed her head on Ty Lee's shoulder and looked up at the stars once more.

* * *

'He's alive,' Katara's voice said, trembling.

Sokka's head whirled around so fast that Zuko swore the wind made an audible sound. 'He is?' Sokka asked cautiously, as if he didn't want to give away how relieved he was if Katara's report turned out to be false and his hopes were just crushed yet again.

'He is,' Katara breathed, and the absolute certainty in her voice gave the members of Team Avatar a sense of immense relief that they had not felt in a very long time. Sokka, Zuko, Toph, Suki, Momo and even Appa immediately ran over to Aang's side. Well, in Appa's case, lumbered was probably a more apt word to describe the way the sky bison used his six feet to walk over to his master's side.

Aang slowly opened his eyes. The first person he saw cradling his head was Katara. 'What?' he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes and sitting up straight. 'Did I wake up in another iceberg again?'

Nobody had time to respond before Aang was crushed in a hug that he swore could have broken his ribs had the assailant hung on a little longer. 'Twinkletoes!' Toph exclaimed, her voice lighting up. 'You're alive!'

Aang smiled. 'Yeah, I-'

He felt a hard punch to his shoulder. 'Ow! What was that for?' he asked, glaring at Toph and rubbing his shoulder ruefully.

'That was for nearly dying on us,' said Toph petulantly, crossing her arms as if she was totally in the right. 'Don't ever do that again, you hear me?'

Aang chucked in spite of himself. 'No promises,' he joked.

The entirety of Team Avatar collectively punched him on his shoulders, causing Aang to yelp even more. 'We're serious,' said Zuko grimly. 'We were worried sick, Aang! My father nearly killed you! Do you know how long you were out for? Katara's been working every single day and night to heal you, and this experience combined with the lightning scar Azula gave you really isn't doing wonders for your health, in case you haven't noticed!'

'Wait,' said Aang slowly. 'How long was I out for? How long has it been since Sozin's Comet?'

The group exchanged a dark look amongst themselves.

'Aang,' began Katara tentatively, 'are you sure you want to hear this so soon after you wake up? I have some medicine prepared for you to take, and maybe some berries will calm you down-'

'No,' Aang said firmly, cutting Katara off. His piercing grey eyes seemed to stare through the group unnervingly. 'I need to know how long I was out for. I need to know why we didn't win the war. I need to know what's been happening since I've been gone, and I don't want any of you sugarcoating it like I'm some sort of child! I'm the _Avatar_. Saving the world is my responsibility.'

Katara bit her lip and averted her gaze, as if it physically pained her to say it. 'Aang,' she began softly, 'you've been out for a month. You've missed... well, you've missed a lot. For starters...' she trailed off, closing her eyes.

The group waited on her words with bated breath.

'I can't do this,' Katara announced abruptly, eyes flying open. 'Someone else do this. Someone else please explain to Aang what's been happening around here. I can't- I can't- I just _can't.'_

'Wow, it's really that bad, huh?' Aang said with a low whistle, as Katara promptly stood up and walked over to Appa, burying her face in his soft fur as if he was some sort of oversized pillow.

'Oh, you have no idea,' said Sokka grimly. 'Well, for starters, Zuko's crazy dad literally _did_ manage to cleanse the Earth Kingdom with fire. It's completely destroyed, all except for Omashu and Ba Sing Se. Kyoshi Island got out relatively unscathed compared to everything else too, but there's still quite a bit of damage, or so Suki's friends say. Azula's Fire Lord now, and Ozai is the 'Phoenix King' or whatever that's supposed to mean. Basically, he's declaring himself Supreme Ruler of the Galaxy, but it doesn't change the fact that he still looks stupid made out of noodles.'

'Huh?' Zuko said in confusion as the rest of the group, save for Katara who was still half-submerged in Appa's fur, laughed.

'When we were hiding out in the Fire Nation, Aang went to one of the schools there and brought home an art project he made of your dad- out of noodles,' giggled Toph, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. 'It was so hilarious.'

'Yeah, I can tell,' deadpanned Zuko dryly. 'Actually, every Fire Nation kid has to do that. It's the most popular art project there is. I made one of my grandfather, Fire Lord Azulon, when he was on the throne, and I was about to show it to him when my father stopped me and burnt it because it looked so stupid he thought it was legitimately disrespectful. Of course, he didn't burn Azula's... hers was literally framed.'

Toph laughed mirthlessly. 'Wait, seriously?'

'That's so mean,' said Suki. 'But also does not surprise me.'

'Yeah,' Zuko shrugged. 'Just another typical day in the Fire Nation royal family.'

'Well,' interrupted Sokka, clearing his throat obnoxiously, 'moving on from what I'm sure was a _highly_ traumatic experience of Zuko's sister's art project being chosen over his, there's still a lot more you need to know, Aang. The Fire Nation has taken control of the Southern Water Tribe, and there are constantly troops there every day. No one's allowed in or out. Both my dad and Gran-Gran are... are stuck there, as are most of our Water Tribe allies.' His eyes half-shut briefly and Suki, sensing his evident distress, put her arms around him.

Aang's face darkened. Momo curled around his neck comfortingly, but it didn't stop the rising panic fluttering in the young Avatar's chest. 'This is bad news,' he said, his voice rising slightly hysterically, 'this is really bad news. We've lost one of our only staunch allies, and I can't imagine how awful it must be to have your family members just torn from you like that.'

Katara spoke for the first time since she'd left. 'We're used to it,' she said a little bitterly, her voice still muffled by Appa's fur.

The group fell under an uncomfortable silence.

'Well,' declared Toph after a few moments, mostly to break the awkward silence, 'we need to move, Twinkletoes. We were supposed to leave in a few days, but now that you're awake, we're leaving tomorrow at dawn so Appa can get his rest. The Fire Nation's coming to scour out any escapees from the Water Tribe or the Earth Kingdom. The Phoenix King has implemented strict regulations about who's allowed in the Fire Nation, and none of us except Zuko are from here, and there's obvious reasons why he can't stay either, so... we're headed for Kyoshi Island where Suki will meet up with the Kyoshi Warriors to get us food and supplies.'

'Wait!' Aang interjected. 'What's the plan?'

'What do you mean?' asked Suki slowly, as if afraid he would object to going back to Kyoshi Island.

'Like, how are we going to defeat the Fire Lord- I mean, sorry, the Phoenix King? How are we going to free the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe and end the Hundred-Year War?' Aang asked desperately, looking at each one of them as if they alone would have the solution to end a century-old war.

Team Avatar looked at each other warningly. 'Aang...' Zuko started out slowly. 'The Hundred-Year War has already ended. That's what my father becoming Phoenix King means. And... we can't free them yet, because everyone... well, everyone kind of thinks you're dead.'

'What?! The Fire Nation's won?!' Aang shrieked, clutching his head, and was horrified to feel tufts of hair underneath his fingers. 'Oh, no!' he moaned. 'I have hair, no one knows I'm alive and we're hiding out in the Fire Nation- this is just like that time Azula struck me with lightning and we ended up on that stolen battleship!'

Katara, unable to turn her back on a suffering Aang, wrenched herself from Appa's soft fur with tremendous difficulty and rushed over to his side, trying to soothe him. 'It's okay, Aang,' she said, patting his back awkwardly. 'At least we all made it out alive. That's honestly more than any of us could have asked for.'

Aang melted into Katara's arms, still trying desperately to hold back burning tears. 'Wait,' he said. The group tensed subconsciously. 'How did we all make it out alive? Last I saw, Zuko and Katara were fighting Azula, and I was engaged in combat with the Phoenix King. All of us making it out had to be some sort of miracle.'

Zuko inhaled sharply. 'I haven't told any of you this yet,' he said cautiously, 'but I think Azula saved us.'

Katara's eyes flashed. 'What?' she snapped. Even Sokka and Suki, who had grown to trust Zuko a lot more than any of them would have expected in the beginning, looked taken aback at Zuko's announcement.

'She couldn't do it,' explained Zuko hastily, earnestly looking at the whole group as if pleading with them to believe him. 'She could've struck me down with lightning, but instead she chose to dilute her power and not kill me, but split apart her lightning to impair both of us enough so she could get away. It wasn't a fatal strike, and she knew that. She had her chance to kill me, Katara, but she didn't. We both know we were outmatched anyway.'

Katara fell silent, taking it into consideration. 'Maybe she really thought she could kill both of us with splitting her lightning apart, though,' she argued, albeit rather feebly. Zuko's words had given her a new perspective to consider, and although she wasn't really sure if she agreed with it- it was Azula they were talking about, after all- it certainly seemed too interesting to cast aside without a second thought.

'No,' said Zuko firmly, firmer than they had ever heard him speak before. 'All lightningbenders know that splitting your lightning for a fatal shot only works for someone who's truly mastered the art. Azula may have mastered firebending, but she only started lightningbending at twelve. That gave her two years to figure out how to use it, and she's nowhere near perfected it. She knew it wouldn't kill us, barely even incapacitate us. I just...' he trailed off, frustrated. 'I'd like to think there's some good in her, okay? She may be our mortal enemy, but sometimes I think you guys forget that she's my family, too.'

The group fell silent, taking Zuko's words into consideration.

'I agree with Zuko,' Sokka announced abruptly. 'Maybe he's a little biased, but hey. If Katara was my mortal enemy, I probably wouldn't be able to kill her either. We're brother and sister. That has to count for something, even for twisted sibling relationships like Sparky and Princess Crazy over here. I believe she probably couldn't kill Zuko when it really came down to it, although not for lack of trying in the past.'

'Well,' Toph said casually, 'I probably know Princess Azula- I mean, Fire Lord Azula- the least of all of you, except for maybe Suki.'

'No,' Suki interrupted with a grim look on her features, 'believe me, I've had a few run-ins with Azula before.'

'Never mind, then,' corrected Toph. 'What I'm trying to say, though, is that I know her the least, but I'm on Zuko's side too. I mean, Azula may be psychotic at times, but she's fourteen. I knew girls at fourteen who still played with dolls. It's not improbable to think that there's some humanity inside of her when it comes down to it.'

Katara whirled around to face Toph, finally snapping. 'Well, where was that humanity when she killed Aang in the Crystal Catacombs?' she challenged. 'Where was that humanity when she chased us halfway across the world with her two little henchmen? Where was that humanity when she nearly killed Zuko, Sokka, Suki and Dad in the Boiling Rock? Maybe you guys want to give Azula a chance, but that doesn't change the fact that we're on the run because of her, we've lost the war because of her, and that our only plan is to keep Aang alive because we don't have any options left anymore!'

Everyone looked shocked by Katara's outburst, but none more so than Aang. 'But- that can't be it!' he exclaimed. 'We can't just give up! There has to be another option, there has to be another plan, something we can do to save the world!'

'Right now, Twinkletoes, the only thing we can do is to keep you alive,' said Toph seriously. 'We've expended all of our energy to help you. You're pumped up with Katara's freaky healing magic and herbs we got from local apothecaries. Our whole mission is making sure you don't die, so you better not go and do something stupid that'll put everything we've worked for in jeopardy.'

Aang fell silent. 'I won't,' he muttered. 'But I don't like the idea of us just- just giving up hope like this.'

Suki placed her hand on Aang's shoulder. 'Aang,' she said sincerely, 'as long as we have you, we have hope. Get some rest. It's nearly midnight, and we leave at dawn. The best thing you can do for the world right now is to get a good night's sleep.'

Aang took a deep breath, realizing albeit reluctantly that Suki was right. 'Alright,' he finally concluded. 'But I'm sleeping on Appa. I don't like the feel of this rocky ground.'

Toph raised an eyebrow. 'Don't worry, it doesn't like you either,' she joked.

Aang gave her a half-hearted smile and headed over to Appa with Momo curled around his shoulders, purring softly. Zuko collapsed on the ground where he stood, almost instantly asleep after such an exhausting day. Toph and Katara headed back into their own tents, but Sokka pulled Suki to the side behind some boulders.

'Did you really mean what you said?' asked Sokka tentatively. 'About how we still have hope as long as Aang's alive.'

Suki raised an eyebrow curiously. 'I always mean what I say,' she said. 'And he's the Avatar, Sokka. He's destined to save the world. Of course I have faith in him.'

Sokka waved a hand. 'Yeah, yeah, I know, destiny and all that stuff. But lately it just seems like there's nothing left for us. I mean, the Fire Nation's won the war, troops have overrun the Southern Water Tribe, and the Earth Kingdom's been razed to the ground. I just...' he sighed. 'I just don't know how we're supposed to go on.'

Suki kissed Sokka lightly on the cheek. Even in the dim glow of the moonlight, she could see his cheeks reddening. 'Sometimes we can't make a plan,' she told him. 'Sometimes we just have to do the next right thing and see where we can go from there. And the next right thing right now is to go to Kyoshi Island.'

'I guess you're right,' concluded Sokka after a moment. 'Night, Suki.'

'Good night, Sokka.'


	2. chapter two

Sunrises were one of the few things Azula truly adored. Firebenders were naturally powered by the energy of the sun, and each morning she would rise at the crack of dawn to train. She loved the heat, the energy, the adrenaline that coursed through her veins when the sun inched past mountain tops in the sky until it became fully visible, a golden ball of fire eclipsing all the lesser stars. She liked to imagine it rose just for her each morning.

She was halfway through summoning lightning for the fifth time when a servant timidly approached her. Dropping her stance, she nearly growled at the servant for daring to interrupt her training, but restrained herself. 'What is it?' she snapped impatiently.

The servant cowered under Azula's glare. 'Your father would like you to join him for breakfast, Prin- I mean, Fire Lord Azula,' she squeaked, bowing hurriedly and rushing off.

Azula contemplated incinerating the servant right then and there for daring to slip up and forget her new title. She supposed it wasn't really the servant's fault, though. After all, it wasn't like Azula actually did any of the duties a Fire Lord was supposed to do. Instead, she sat around and looked pretty, because apparently that was what people who were completely under the thumb of their fathers did after conquering entire kingdoms. Trying and failing to quash the tidal rush of bitter resentment that came with that thought, she quickly rushed up to her room, hating the way she was instantly complying to her father's will despite the fact that she notoriously despised it when her routine was broken, and stripped out of her training armour to take the quickest shower possible. No matter how tremendously her grudge against her father grew as the days passed, one did not keep the Phoenix King waiting.

Azula breathlessly arrived in the dining hall to see a large spread of assortments ready for her. 'You're late,' Ozai said in a bone-chilling tone, seated at the head of the table with a frigid smile on his face.

'By two minutes,' Azula countered, bowing to her father respectfully and sliding into a chair on his right hand side, as if they were attending a military council and not a family breakfast. 'May I ask why you decided to summon me here at a moment's notice and interrupt my training?'

'I couldn't let the maids' hard work preparing you a nice breakfast go to waste, now could I?' asked Ozai casually, cutting into an omelette. 'What if I just wanted to have a nice meal with my daughter?'

'Surely even you don't believe I'm that naïve,' said Azula, managing to keep a neutral tone despite how badly she wanted to laugh at the absurdity of his sentence. 'What is it you'd like, Father?' _Get to the point and we can get this over with faster._

Ozai's face hardened. 'No time to exchange pleasantries, I see,' he said coldly, placing his knife and fork down. 'I respect that. Well, I won't beat around the bush if you aren't in the mood to have a nice conversation with your father. I called you here for one reason only, and that is because I want you to find your brother and bring him back to be executed for treason.'

Azula felt like she'd just been sucker punched in the stomach. 'What?' she stammered, forgetting all proper etiquette.

'I'm sorry, I thought my message was clear,' Ozai said, his golden eyes narrowing. 'I want you to find your brother, bring him back, and have him executed. He is a traitor to the Nation, and his punishment calls for nothing less.'

'But- but-' she stuttered. 'But what about Mai and Ty Lee? They were put in the Boiling Rock for treason- surely you could put Zuko in prison, too. It would torture him much more than any execution ever would. No execution can compare to being beaten up and tortured daily until the day he dies,' she finished, regaining her cool composure at the end of her sentence.

A hint of a smile played on Ozai's lips. 'Well, it's good to see you thinking like that,' he said, 'but as for your little friends, they will be executed as well. We can't allow ourselves to become hypocrites and spare them because they were once close to you. The punishment for treason is execution, and only execution, so they will be shipped over tonight as well as every other traitor who has ever dared defy the glorious Fire Nation. And once you find your dear brother and bring him back, they will all be executed together in Sozin Memorial Park. It will be a national event. Quite fitting, don't you think?'

Azula tried to swallow the bile rising in her throat. 'Yes, Father,' she gritted out, her eyes firmly fixated on the golden plate in front of her, realizing with a pang that she'd lost her appetite. 'When- when will I begin my mission?'

Ozai resumed cutting through his omelette. 'What is it they say?' he asked rhetorically as he put a piece of egg into his mouth. 'The sooner the better. You may leave this afternoon, if you wish.'

Azula hated being her father's lackey, but she hated being cooped up in the palace even more. There was something nagging in the back of her mind telling her that she'd regret agreeing to this mission, but she pushed it down. She was itching to get out of this gilded prison and back to the outside world, where even if she was hunting her brother and ensuring the deaths of her two ex-friends, at least she'd get to terrify some soldiers while she was at it. 'Of course, Father,' she said, bowing her head respectfully and getting up. 'I'll go pack right now.'

'You haven't touched your breakfast,' Ozai remarked.

'Well, with a mission this important, how does anyone find the time to eat?' drawled Azula, a note of sarcasm escaping her, and walked out of the dining hall.

* * *

'Get out,' the guard growled.

Mai lifted her head, eyes grey and dull. 'I'm perfectly fine here, thanks,' she said blandly.

'Why?' Ty Lee challenged. 'What's happening? Our shift isn't till nine.'

'You're getting shipped out of here,' the guard shrugged. 'Don't ask me why. Warden's orders.'

At the mention of getting out of the horrid prison, Ty Lee immediately scrambled to her feet. Mai rose gracefully, but even she couldn't hide the glimmer of excitement sparkling in her eyes.

The guard unlocked their cell door, and Ty Lee bounded out of it, unable to contain her joy. 'We're getting out! We're getting out! Where are we going?' she asked.

'I already told you, I haven't the slightest clue,' the guard replied, slightly more annoyed now than he was intimidating. 'Just... follow me.'

The guard walked ahead of them, his bulky armour clinking with every stride he took, but Mai pulled Ty Lee close to her. 'I have a bad feeling about this,' she whispered into Ty Lee's ear.

Ty Lee looked at her disapprovingly. 'Can't you just be happy for us? Maybe Azula's finally rescuing us! Maybe she's finally realized that she needs us, and then she's gonna make you her advisor like she promised and I'm going to be her best friend again and we can buy a little cottage together and we'll have, like, a permanent sleepover for ever and ever and I can teach her how to flirt with boys like in Ember Island and-'

At that, Mai snorted. 'You're so in denial that it hurts,' she snickered.

'I have no idea what you're talking about,' Ty Lee shot back defensively, a little too quickly.

'You've never just wanted to be her best friend,' said Mai, rolling her eyes. 'And a cottage where you can have a 'permanent sleepover'? Isn't that kind of like-'

Ty Lee glared at her. 'Shut up,' she said, but it lacked any real malice. 'I know how it sounds, and I didn't mean it that way. You know that.'

Mai shrugged innocently. 'Do I, though? Because the time you saw Azula kissing Chan on that balcony and broke a cup in your fist from squeezing it too hard kind of speaks otherwise-'

_'I_ was the one who taught her how to flirt with him!' retorted Ty Lee, but her voice rose hysterically. 'I was just jealous she chose Chan out of all people, that's all. I was jealous of her, not him. I mean, who wouldn't have wanted to kiss him?'

'I didn't,' scoffed Mai.

'Yeah, but you had Zuko. I didn't have anyone!'

'You had like, seven boys chasing after you and used martial arts on all of them just so you could talk to Azula,' Mai deadpanned. 'Come on, Ty Lee, even I notice stuff. It's painful how much you're trying to deny this.'

'I'm not trying to deny _anything-'_

'Hey, keep it down there in the back!' the guard snapped, turning around to glare at them.

Ty Lee and Mai instantly fell silent, but it didn't stop Mai smirking at Ty Lee while Ty Lee furiously kept her eyes fixated on the ground. They climbed up the steps to the platform to get to the gondola, where the guards put handcuffs on both of the girls before they stepped onto the rickety structure.

The playful atmosphere between them immediately shifted as they sat down on the benches inside the gondola. A barrage of unpleasant memories of the last time they'd been here immediately assaulted the two girls's minds, and Mai could see Ty Lee visibly wince as she looked at the place where she'd chi-blocked Azula. 'If you hadn't done that, she would've killed me,' Mai told Ty Lee matter-of-factly, knowing exactly what the other girl was thinking about.

Ty Lee's shoulders slumped. 'But she was just... she was just mad...' she trailed off uncertainly. 'She wouldn't have killed you, Mai. She was so torn up about you betraying her that she kind of went a bit crazy there. We both know that if it had been anyone else, she'd have ordered their execution in a second.'

'If it had been anyone else except you,' Mai reminded the acrobat.

'No,' said Ty Lee firmly. Mai was taken aback at how matter-of-fact she sounded. 'You've been her friend longer than I have, Mai. You and Azula have practically been joined at the hip since you guys were born, what with you being betrothed to Zuko and all. I didn't join you two until we were eight, and you guys were already so immersed in your own little world that I didn't know if you'd ever think of us as a trio. It hurt when you betrayed her, you know. More than it would've hurt if I'd done it. I just...' she sighed. 'Sometimes I wonder how differently things would've turned out if you'd just let Azula kill Zuko.'

'Me too,' shrugged Mai. 'Still, I don't regret it. I just hope Zuko appreciates the sacrifice I've made for him... wherever he is.'

They fell silent, Ty Lee twiddling with her handcuffs that she knew she could easily break out of and Mai lost in her own thoughts, most of which were unpleasant, recurring nightmares about Zuko dying and her sacrifice for him being for nothing. The silence was rudely interrupted when the warden stepped onto the gondola.

'Mai,' the warden sighed heavily. 'My beloved niece. How did you get yourself into this mess?'

Mai tensed at the sight of her uncle. 'Uncle,' she greeted, bowing her head respectfully. 'How have you been?'

'Don't give me that,' her uncle snapped, waving his hand at a guard who rushed to turn the wheel that moved the gondola across the boiling water. 'Do you two know why you're on this gondola?'

The sharp, jerking movements of the gondola was beginning to make Ty Lee feel a bit queasy, but Mai remained as composed as ever. 'No,' she said. 'Please, enlighten us.'

'You're headed to the Royal Palace,' explained the warden, ignoring Mai's sarcasm.

Ty Lee immediately sat up straighter. 'The Royal Palace?' she exclaimed excitedly. 'Does that mean Azula-'

'You're headed there to be executed for treason against the Royal Family,' interrupted the warden grimly before Ty Lee could get any more of her hopes up only to be dashed.

Ty Lee felt as if the breath had been knocked out from her chest. 'What?' she stammered faintly. 'But... but that can't be true...' This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening...

'I assure you, it is,' answered the warden seriously. 'It's on Phoenix King Ozai's orders. Every traitor who has turned against the Fire Nation will be executed in a public ceremony in Sozin Memorial Park, in honour of the war being won. It will be a national holiday, and civilians will be invited to watch. I tried to save you, Mai, I really tried every option possible, but... you chose your own fate when you decided to save the banished prince.'

'So they're making a mockery out of our deaths,' Mai said sharply, standing up. Her chains screeched with the motion. 'They're turning it into some twisted festival, some celebration. A child will be eating fire gummies as he sees my head being severed off my body, and he will cheer. That's what they're doing? Really? They can't let us die with a little more dignity?'

'Does Princess Azula know about this?' Ty Lee asked softly.

'That's Fire Lord Azula to you,' the warden reminded her sharply, and she shrunk back a little further in her chair, trying to make herself as small as possible. 'I have no idea, actually,' he said honestly. 'She hasn't made many major decisions since her coronation, if any at all. Nobody's seen her outside of the palace since the war ended.'

Mai furrowed her brow and looked at Ty Lee, who was wearing an equally puzzled expression. 'That doesn't sound like Azula,' she said. 'She's always wanted power. She's worked her entire life to become Fire Lord- knowing her, the moment she got her hands on that crown, she would have reformed the entire nation. That's what she's been saying since forever. But she hasn't. And nothing's stopping her- oh.'

The realization hit Mai like a brick. 'What?' Ty Lee asked sharply. 'What is it?'

'Phoenix King Ozai,' Mai breathed almost triumphantly. 'Who needs a Fire Lord when you have a Phoenix King?'

Ty Lee's face dawned with comprehension. 'Oh.'

'I bet you anything Azula hates what her father's done. He's made her entire destiny obsolete. Being Fire Lord has absolutely no meaning anymore,' Mai grinned. Seeing an actual happy expression on Mai's face was shocking enough for Ty Lee, but she was too stunned by the revelation about Azula and her father to really pay much notice. Mai turned towards the warden. 'Uncle, how many major decisions has Azula actually implemented? And how many public appearances has she made?'

The warden looked uncomfortable, but he gave the information to them. 'She's made exactly one public appearance, and that was every newly crowned Fire Lord's traditional speech. The hope that she'll bring prosperity to this country, all that stuff. She's practically disappeared since. As for decisions... most of that is not public information, but I'm not the public, so you're lucky. I'm not sure which can technically be counted as hers, because almost all of them have been overseen by Phoenix King Ozai. The only one she's made on her own was the colours of the decorations of the festival celebrating her coronation. Red and gold,' he clarified, as if Azula would choose any other colours.

Mai laughed. Actually laughed. Both Ty Lee and the warden wore matching expressions of shock on their faces. 'Agni, it's so obvious,' she exclaimed. 'I can't believe Phoenix King Ozai didn't expect anyone to realize that he's essentially keeping her as an ornament- a puppet. He's treating her with as little regard as he holds for Zuko, even. What's next, he's going to send her on an impossible mission to find the Avatar- no, the Avatar's dead. An impossible mission to find Zuko?'

Just then, a messenger hawk fluttered into the moving gondola, exhausted from flying over a boiling lake. 'Don't touch it, either of you,' the warden warned, as if the two girls would ever. 'It's for me.'

He pulled the paper out of the small tube the messenger hawk had strapped onto his back. It had the royal seal stamped on it, and that enough was all that was needed to pique the girls's attentions. As the warden read the contents, his face turned whiter and whiter until he whirled around to face Mai, who looked unsettled. 'How did you know?' he breathed.

'What?' Mai asked, confused.

The warden held the letter out to them. 'It says here that all military officials- including myself, as a warden and former general, must be informed that Fire Lord Azula is headed on a search to find the banished Prince Zuko.'

Mai's eyes widened. She looked at Ty Lee sharply, whose face mirrored her own expression.

'The mission was ordered earlier this morning by Phoenix King Ozai, who wishes for his traitor son to join the ranks of those set to be executed in Sozin Memorial Park on a date still undecided yet. Those ranks are you two,' the warden explained, as if they needed any more clarification.

'Wait,' Ty Lee interrupted. 'Why aren't there more people on this gondola, then? There have to be more traitors than this in the Fire Nation!' Catching the warden's look, she hastily corrected herself, 'I mean, not that I mean any disrespect or anything, I don't want there to be more traitors-'

'Oh, give it up, Ty Lee, we're already headed to be executed for treason. I think you can at least allow yourself to say disrespectful things now,' Mai sighed, rolling her eyes.

'There aren't any traitors in the Fire Nation because they're all executed within the first few days after being put in prison,' said the warden flatly, his words effectively stilling both Mai and Ty Lee. 'You two are the only ones who've been held this long in any of the prisons, Agni knows why.'

Ty Lee and Mai exchanged a look. _We know._

The gondola screeched to a stop. They had reached the other side. Mai belatedly noticed the heavily-armed guards waiting for them on the other side, and knew that there was no way they could fight their way out of this situation, even with Ty Lee's superhuman chi-blocking skills and Mai's unnerving aim. But she'd been stripped of her daggers and throwing stars, and although a month in prison hadn't done enough to put Ty Lee out of practice, the acrobat was hardly in the right shape to do any fighting. Mai knew that they would be running on empty adrenaline at this point if they chose to try and fight their way to freedom, and at some point they would burn out.

Ty Lee tensed, her normally warm grey eyes turned calculating, surveying every weakness of the guards. Sometimes she was even scarier than Azula, Mai noticed, because she'd learnt to take down enemies without the help of firebending. She'd seen Ty Lee at her peak wipe out entire stations of soldiers with nothing more than a few jabs to the chest. But not this time. They were exhausted and tired, and hardly in the right shape to do anything. 'No,' Mai whispered, putting a manacled hand on the section of Ty Lee's wrist that wasn't covered in chains. 'This isn't the time.'

Ty Lee's grey eyes widened in confusion. 'We're being shipped off to our deaths,' she hissed. 'We have to do something.'

'And we will,' promised Mai, her voice low and dependable, her familiar, unwavering tone carrying with it a source of strange comfort that served to steady Ty Lee's jumping nerves, if only for a painfully brief moment. 'Just not now.'

The gondola doors slid open noiselessly, and the warden put his beefy hands on both the girls's shoulders as if they were helpless toddlers, unable to guide themselves, and manoeuvred them towards two guards who stood waiting to clamp chains on both their forearms.

Ty Lee winced. 'Is this really necessary? I mean, I'm sure two big, strong guards could handle us just fine without the help of any of these chains,' she said, slickly laying on the compliment in a high-pitched, girlish voice, exaggerating the movements of picking at her chains distastefully, as if flattery and a show of discomfort would somehow get her out of this situation.

The guards did not even acknowledge her words, but Ty Lee remained undeterred, tossing her chestnut hair unconfined to its usual tight braid back proudly. They would cave eventually, she was certain. Her voice was like a siren; compelling, irresistible, unable to be discarded from someone's mind easily and impossible to ignore. Even Azula herself had not been able to dismiss the effects Ty Lee's voice had had on her during their days together. The only time Ty Lee had been convinced Azula had been too far gone for her siren song to work on the former princess had been that fateful day at the Boiling Rock, where Ty Lee hadn't dared look directly into Azula's eyes for fear she'd see a hateful demon's red instead of Azula's natural golden.

The guards led the girls in a long, slow procession, as if to humiliate them further and lengthen their torture. It was around two hours when they reached a shore where an intimidatingly large boat that slashed the surrounding waves in half rose up, nearly blocking out the sun when they came to stand directly in front of it. 'Up,' said the warden sharply, pointing to a rope ladder leading to the boat that was unravelling before their eyes.

'We're supposed to climb up on that?' said Mai distastefully, wrinkling her nose.

'Isn't there a staircase they can put next to the boat?' asked Ty Lee, remembering how they'd always boarded Azula's ships. 'How are we supposed to climb up in these?' She jangled her handcuffs miserably.

'Oh,' the warden realized, as if he hadn't expected they would run into this sort of difficulty. 'Um... guards, carry them up the ladder.'

The two guards nearest them hesitated slightly before picking Ty Lee and Mai up and slinging the girls over their shoulders like they were potato sacks instead of human beings. Mai's face was exasperated but not surprised; Ty Lee was almost hungrily eyeing an unprotected chink in the guard's armour conveniently right above a weak spot in the human body that she could use to paralyze him, then wrench herself out of his grasp, since the handcuffs supposed to restrain her were at best a pathetic joke. She didn't, though, remembering Mai's words. Later.

The short journey up the ladder was more uncomfortable than their two hours of walking put together. Mai's face was buried against her guard's lower back, hating every time she drew breath because it smelt like sickening sweat and body odour. Not to mention, she was uncomfortably aware of the incredibly unpleasant sensation of her nose smashed against cold armour. Ty Lee was faring no better, despite having the ability to wriggle out of the position she was currently in due to her carefully cultivated gymnastic skills. She was afraid that if she made a single move, she would not be able to stop herself from trying to destroy the entire troop of soldiers, and so she lay as limp as a dead fish.

Once they had boarded, the guards did not release the girls. Instead, they carried Ty Lee and Mai straight to a room where there lay a small cell. The best that could be said for the cell was that it was at least clean, which was a relief to Ty Lee especially, whose second worst fear was smelling unpleasant. Her first was having frizzy hair, not that she'd ever admit it anymore. She'd once told Azula that, and the former princess had immediately splashed her with water and laughed when her hair had dried all corkscrew.

'You'll be staying here for the remainder of the journey,' one of the guards who holding Mai growled. He pushed her roughly into the cell, prompting Ty Lee's guard to do the same.

'How long will we be staying for?' Mai asked.

'We don't answer to traitors,' the guard on the right growled, locking the cell door and slamming it shut. Both of them left the room, leaving Mai and Ty Lee all alone in the dark.

* * *

'Kyoshi Island,' breathed Zuko as the group slid off Appa into a rocky outcrop far away from the centre of town. Appa had been too exhausted to fly any further, so they were planning to walk to Suki's old lodgings. 'It's beautiful.'

'You've never been?' asked Suki curiously.

Zuko's face darkened and he looked away. 'No,' he said, pained. 'I have. Only not as a visitor... as an invader. I was... I was looking for Aang at the time.'

'Oh. Right.'

They lapsed into silence after that. Zuko's words seemed to have that effect a lot nowadays, he noticed.

The crunch of their boots against soft grass was strangely comforting to hear. It did not remind Zuko of home at all, and he was unsurprised to realize that he didn't miss the Fire Nation in the slightest. The Fire Nation, especially Caldera, where he'd grown up, had hard gravelly roads and stone, with very little greenery to be seen. Zuko thought that he would take the smell of damp morning dew and fresh flowers over smoke and choking construction smells any day.

Soft, hushed conversation began between the group. Sokka had his arm casually slung around Suki, who had never looked more relieved in their entire days of travelling to be finally back at her home. Zuko cringed at the painful memories rushing back of him and Mai being teenagers in love and doing the exact same thing, and looked somewhere else, towards Aang and Toph, who were practicing making smiley faces in the dirt with earthbending as they walked. Katara was trailing behind them and giving them a score based on how good the faces looked, laughing every so often at a particularly disfigured one, which was mostly unintentional if it was made by Aang, who was not very practiced at earthbending yet, but definitely intentional by Toph, who took pleasure in giving her faces the ugliest smiley expressions possible.

It was late afternoon, almost evening, and the sun was setting in the sky. Zuko lifted his face to let the sun's golden rays streak across his cheeks, the action and the energy he harnessed from the sun revitalizing him slightly. They finally came across a little village, where Suki immediately broke free of Sokka's arms, much to his dismay, and went to hug a girl dressed in full Kyoshi Warrior garb. 'Emiko!' Suki exclaimed delightedly, throwing her arms around her fellow warrior.

'Suki!' Emiko returned the hug with equal fervour. 'What are you doing here?'

'You didn't get my messenger hawk?' Suki frowned. 'We're here to pick up food and supplies for the Avatar, and maybe rest a bit, if that's okay. We're all exhausted.'

The members of Team Avatar expected Emiko to be in shock, or exclaim in surprise that the Avatar was still alive, but she did no such thing. Instead, she pointed at Zuko and gaped. 'He's not supposed to be here!'

Zuko recoiled. 'What?' he asked, his voice hoarse.

'Wait, do you mean me?' asked Aang.

Emiko's eyes never left Zuko's scar. 'No, him! He can't be here!' she exclaimed in a panic.

'Look,' said Katara, stepping forward, 'I know you probably think he's still loyal to the Fire Nation, but he's trustworthy now and-'

'No!' Emiko interrupted, waving her hands around exasperatedly. 'There's a Fire Nation fleet that's coming after Prince Zuko! They're going to arrive here tomorrow morning! He's not safe here- and none of us will be safe here if they know we're harbouring him! I really don't want to turn an ally in, so I'm going to give you your food and supplies, but after that you must leave!'

A wave of shock rippled through the group. 'A Fire Nation fleet?' asked Sokka and Toph at the same time.

'Yes, lead by Fire Lord Azula on the orders of Phoenix King Ozai,' said Emiko quickly. 'It was announced this afternoon. They're scouring the Earth Kingdom in hopes of finding Prince Zuko, but no one knows why. I doubt it's because of anything good though.'

'Then we should get our stuff now,' Aang decided. 'And then leave as soon as possible. We don't want to put these people into any more danger, especially since their village has recently been razed by the Fire Nation. They've suffered enough.'

Emiko didn't even bother to hide her sigh of relief at them leaving. 'Thank you, Avatar,' she said. Her eyes widened. 'Wait. You're alive?'

Aang laughed. 'Uh, yeah. It's... a long story. But we don't really have time right now.'

Emiko nodded reluctantly, looking very conflicted, like she very much did want to hear his long story but at the same time eager for them to leave. 'Wait here. Suki and I will go get food and supplies for you.' She grabbed Suki's arm and they went inside a large storage shed together whole Team Avatar waited outside. Aang fiddled with his thumbs while Katara subconsciously tapped her foot loudly.

'Can you stop?' Toph snapped at Katara. 'It's annoying.'

Katara glared at Toph. 'It's not my fault I'm stressed,' she snapped.

'We all are,' retorted Toph. 'You might notice you're the only one who does irritating things like that, though.'

Katara was about to say something back when Suki and Emiko ran out of the house- with barely anything in their arms. Emiko's lips were white when she spoke. 'This is all we have to spare,' she said, trembling, holding out a basket of food barely enough to last them three days. 'All our medical supplies were used up during the raze. You wouldn't believe how many burns people got in one day. I'm really sorry. I wish I could help more.'

Zuko pressed a hand to his forehead. 'Agni,' he groaned. 'Could this day get any worse?'

Just then, a stray fireball pierced the side of a cliff.

'You really should know better than to say that by now, Zuko!' Sokka yelled, brandishing his boomerang as if it had the power to deflect a fireball.

Katara leaped gracefully over a rock and instinctively summoned a ball of water between her hands. 'What's happening?' she asked sharply, ready to strike.

Toph concentrated, pushing her feet further into the ground. 'I can't see,' she said. 'The blast must not have come from land. We're near water, right?'

A sense of overwhelming dread enveloped them all as they realized the obvious. 'They're here,' stated Suki. 'They're here ahead of schedule. How did they know to follow us here?'

Appa bellowed right on cue. Aang's face filled with horror. 'Appa!' he exclaimed. 'He was too tired to fly above the clouds, and we flew right over Fire Nation waters to get here!'

Katara put an arm on his shoulder, trying to console him. 'It's okay, you couldn't have known-'

'We've put all these people in danger! We led the Fire Nation ships right to us!' Aang yelled.

Another fireball was launched straight at the group. Katara instantly sent a shield of water to block it.

Sokka's face paled. 'Aang!' he called out. 'I hate to say it, but the best thing we can do for this village would be to leave now!'

'No!' said Aang and Katara at the same time.

They looked at each other, understanding the other's distress without having to say anything. 'I'm not turning my back on people who need me, Sokka,' said Katara passionately, deflecting another fireball with her whip of water.

'Me neither,' said Aang staunchly.

'Why do they have to have such unbendable morals?' whined Sokka to Suki, who looked equally as exasperated as he was.

'You said you would leave as soon as possible!' Emiko accused. 'You said! You're putting us all in danger! Not just him-' she pointed to Zuko.

'Thanks,' Zuko muttered.

'-but every one of you is wanted in the Fire Nation! You must leave now, do you hear me? I don't want my village to suffer another raze!' Emiko shrieked. 'I lost my friends, my home, my entire family when the Fire Nation burnt our village! They said I was lucky to be alive! Lucky!' She laughed bitterly. 'The thing is, I don't know if I'll get lucky again! And if I do, it certainly won't be because of you!'

Katara lowered her water whip. Aang released his air shield. 'We're really going to help more by leaving?' Katara asked softly.

'Yes!' exclaimed Emiko desperately. 'Yes, you are! Please, please go!'

'All right,' concluded Aang, a bit shamefully, and they hurried off towards Appa, carrying the basket of food with them.

Behind them, a fleet of fierce battleships broke the horizon with their dark, forbidding hulls. The inhabitants of Kyoshi Island felt fear strike their hearts when they saw the Fire Nation insignia branded into the ships. One by one, fireballs were launched at the helpless houses that had just been rebuilt, and the inhabitants recognized a very familiar figure standing right on the boat in the middle.

'It's Azula!' Katara yelled. 'Azula's with them!'

Zuko turned to see his sister on the middlemost battleship. She was too far away for him to make out any expression on her face, though. 'We know,' he said quietly. 'Emiko told us she'd be leading the fleet.' He stood rooted to the spot, transfixed, as if waiting for his sister to come closer.

Toph grabbed Zuko's arm and pulled him up on top of Appa. 'Move it, Sparky. We have to go!'

Zuko quickly snapped out of his reverie and helped the rest of Team Avatar onto Appa. Once they were all there, Aang jumped onto Appa's neck and said, 'Appa, yip yip!'

But Appa wouldn't budge.

'Appa,' Aang said a little more desperately, 'yip yip! Come on, buddy! We need to get out of here!'

Appa only groaned and shut his eyes.

'What's happening?' asked Toph. 'Why can I still kind of feel the ground?'

'Appa's not moving,' said Aang helplessly. 'He's still exhausted. What are we going to do?'

'Appa's not moving?!' Sokka exclaimed in a panic. 'Wait... Appa hates fire, right?'

'Yes,' said Aang cautiously. 'What do you have in mind?'

Sokka wasted no time in explaining. 'What if Zuko blasted him with fire?'

Aang recoiled in shock, a horrified expression on his face. Katara hit her brother, hard. 'Sokka!' she rebuked.

'I don't mean _light him on fire,'_ Sokka tried to explain before his sister could chastise him further. 'I mean Zuko could like, blast the ground near him with fire and he would understand we're under attack and try and fly away-'

'I don't think we have to worry about Zuko blasting him with fire,' Suki interrupted grimly. 'Look who it is.'

'I can't,' interjected Toph exasperatedly as the rest of the group turned towards the direction Suki's finger was pointing to. 'Seriously, how many times do I have to remind you guys, I'm _blind-'_

'It's Azula,' said Aang quickly, mostly to stop Toph from complaining about how no one remembered she was blind again. He felt slightly guilty about that, but pushed it aside. He could make up for it later. 'And...' he inhaled sharply. 'Spirits, she's _flying.'_

'What?!' Katara demanded, pushing Sokka away to get a clearer view. But it was crystal clear- Azula was using bursts of cerulean fire that sprung from her hands to power her way through the sky. As she grew closer, Zuko noticed her face- not triumphant, like he'd thought it would be, but expressionless. Almost contemplative. But with Azula, that could mask anything.

'You know, I'm starting to rethink me believing the idea of your sister saving you,' Sokka said, addressing Zuko.

Zuko sighed. 'Join the club.'

They had all been in too much shock to do anything about it before, but the group seemed to come to their senses and took up fighting stances on Appa. Aang tried to push Azula back with a gust of wind that she dodged almost gracefully; Katara threw her signature whip of water that Azula evaporated in an instant, looking almost as if she were bored. Toph leapt to the ground immediately, breathing a sigh of relief when she regained her vision, though she still could not see Azula's attack coming from the air. Suki threw her knives, but after years of learning to dodge Mai's own, avoiding these knives was like child's play for Azula. Sokka threw his boomerang, and it almost hit the Fire Lord, the closest any of them had gotten to her, but Aang's own burst of air meant for Azula derailed the boomerang's path and it sailed back into Sokka's frustrated hands.

None of them could touch her. That was, until Momo leapt up on Azula's shoulder.

Azula almost didn't notice the flying lemur until it started pulling on her hair. She shrieked, flailing in midair. 'Get off! Get off!'

Zuko stifled a laugh, as did most of the group, but Aang looked genuinely distressed. 'Don't hurt him!' he yelled. 'Please don't blast him with fire!'

Azula fell to the ground in a heap. 'I'm- not- going- to hurt you,' she growled, finally plucking Momo off of her and throwing him back on Appa.

The group tensed, ready to attack her at the slightest provocation. 'Oh,' exclaimed Toph. 'I can see her now.'

Azula's golden eyes darted towards Toph. 'What?'

Zuko stepped forward. 'What do you want, Azula?' he challenged.

Azula looked at him, a smirk curving her lips. 'Here's what I want you to do,' she commanded regally, as if she was their fearless leader and not an enemy soldier. 'I only have a few minutes before the battleships reach Kyoshi Island, so we need to do this fast. You're going to attack me and tie me up so I can't firebend, and then you're going to go to my home, the Fire Nation Royal Palace, and free two very special people for me.'

'What?! Why would we do that?' Katara challenged, rage lacing her voice dangerously. 'Surely even you can't believe we're that stupid. That whole thing sounds like a trap.'

'Not if you're careful enough,' corrected Azula. 'I am letting you get away, peasants,' she enunciated clearly, as if they were dumb. 'Look, I just need to talk to my brother. And then you need to attack me. I'll have to put on a fight to show the fleet, so be prepared.'

And without asking for permission, she seized her brother by the wrist imperiously and dragged him a few steps away from the group. Zuko did not try to fight his way out of her grasp, nor was he even sure he could have- her hands were like iron. Finally, Azula stopped and turned to him, looking him directly in the eyes. It was almost funny since she was so much shorter than him, but the intense look in Azula's golden eyes stopped him from laughing.

'Zuzu,' she said, addressing him by his childhood nickname, 'Father will kill Mai and Ty Lee if I capture you.'

'What?!' exclaimed Zuko, horrified, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of his chest.

Azula glared. _'Don't_ interrupt me,' she snapped icily. 'He's planning to round you three up and have you executed at Sozin Memorial Park along with a bunch of other traitors, but I doubt they'll be any others at all. You know what the policy for treason is. So far, you three are the only known traitors who have evaded execution for this long, and I'll bet you anything Father knows that full well. It's going to be a national holiday. Normally, if it were any other traitors I wouldn't really care, but the thing is, I can't stage my coup with Mai and Ty Lee if they're rotting away in the palace dungeons. Father has rendered my destiny as Fire Lord useless. I plan to take the throne and kill him, and I'm telling you this because no one would ever believe this coming from you except Mai and Ty Lee. I need you to rescue my best friends, one of whom is your girlfriend, as I recall-'

'We broke up,' said Zuko hastily. Catching Azula's annoyed expression, he cleared his throat. 'Sorry. Please continue.'

'As I was saying, I need you to rescue my best friends, one of whom is your ex-girlfriend, as I recall, and let them join your little gang. I will have use for them in the future, and I expect you to take care of them before I come to retrieve them,' Azula finished matter-of-factly. 'Now, explain this to your friends when you escape, because it'll clear things up and a bonus is that no one will believe them either, and-' Azula glanced over to see Fire Nation soldiers scaling the cliffs- '-attack me right now.'

Zuko blinked. 'But-'

'Are you deaf, Zuzu? _Now!'_ Azula screamed.

Zuko sent a red-hot fireball towards Azula that she dodged, but only barely, playing an act up for her soldiers. 'Come on,' she hissed. 'Surely you can do better than that? They need to believe I'm hurt enough not to come chasing after you!'

Zuko's nostrils flared. 'Team Avatar!' he called. 'Attack the princess!'

'Fire Lord,' Azula corrected between gritted teeth.

'Like it's not practically the same thing now that Father's Phoenix King,' scoffed Zuko.

Azula groaned. 'Shut up.'

Then suddenly, she was swept off of her feet by a fierce gust of wind that sent her slamming into a rock that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere behind her. As Azula saw the blind earthbender slamming her foot down, the Fire Lord realized that the rock actually had appeared out of nowhere- the little girl had summoned it. Kyoshi Warrior blades sliced through the folds of her armour as easily as melted butter and kept her effectively pinned to the rock. Azula, who had been expecting an attack but shocked to see how easily the blades cut through her armour, made a mental note to upgrade to a better set soon.

Just in time, her soldiers came pouring into the village, brandishing weapons and shooting fireballs indiscriminately at the small group that was piling on Appa with incredible speed, as if their lives depended on it. Which... well, they kind of did. Her soldiers quickly freed her almost as fast as she had been restrained, but by that time, Appa had already taken off with all of the members of Team Avatar in it.

Zuko watched Azula feign shock and frustration from the ground. He had to admit, she was a perfect actress. Even he wouldn't be able to tell whether she was lying or not. Of course, Zuko remembered bitterly, he had never been able to tell. Which meant that this whole mission Azula had informed him about rescuing Ty Lee and Mai might have been entirely fake, but as long as Mai was in trouble, he would never forgive himself if he passed up an opportunity to rescue her.

'So we're really going to rescue them, then?' Sokka asked sceptically. Zuko had informed them as they were getting away, and most of the group was unsurprisingly unconvinced that this wasn't some sort of trap, or worse.

'Yes,' said Zuko determinedly. 'I know you guys think it's a trap, but I would never be able to forgive myself if I just let Mai and Ty Lee die. Besides, even if we get caught, we've gotten ourselves out of worse situations before. And I don't think Azula's loyalty lies with our father anymore, especially considering the coup she's planning. Azula doesn't want Ty Lee and Mai to get captured, and so long as we're with them, we have her protection.'

'This all just seems like one big headache,' sighed Toph.

'How do we know we're not playing right into Azula's hands? Or worse, your father's?' asked Katara.

'I know we're not playing into Azula's hands for now, because I know she really does want Mai and Ty Lee back. Not because she needs friends,' said Zuko hastily, at the group's unconvinced expressions, 'but because she needs their skills. They're unstoppable as a trio. Together, they are literally the Fire Nation's three best trained warriors, and Mai and Ty Lee were made to be weapons from the moment they became friends with my sister. And so long as we have Azula on our side, I don't care what kind of game my father is trying to play. He won't win. Azula is a contender, too, and Azula doesn't play games she doesn't win.'

A pause. Katara sighed. 'All right,' she concluded. 'I still don't like it. But we'll find somewhere to land on and sleep for now, and in the morning, I guess... we're headed back to the Fire Nation.'


	3. chapter three

'You _had_ them,' Ozai growled. 'You had them right in front of you and they managed to get away.'

'Sometimes people fail,' Azula shrugged casually, no matter how much she hated acting like an incompetent fool.

Ozai stopped his pacing and walked over to her, grasping his daughter by the shoulders. _'You_ are not people,' he snarled, looking straight into her eyes that were a shade so exact to his own that it felt like looking into a mirror. _'You_ do not fail.'

'You let Zuko fail those hundreds of times he couldn't capture the Avatar,' Azula blurted out, and instantly regretted it judging by how even more twisted and furious her father's face grew.

_'Zuko_ was banished!' Ozai seethed. _'Zuko_ didn't have the whole army relying on his success! _Zuko_ was chasing someone that for years nobody believed existed anymore! You've never lost a battle, little princess,' he said, lapsing into a familiar childhood nickname of Azula's he had made for her, although his tone could not have been less affectionate. 'That was why I sent you. And now, you decide to lose just as the stakes were highest, when we had the most to gain?'

'I didn't _decide_ to lose!' snapped Azula, although she was lying. 'I was outmatched! They have a new addition to their group, that stupid Kyoshi Warrior-'

'I couldn't care less,' interrupted Ozai, holding his palm up to silence Azula. 'I don't want to know what you do, I just want you to drag Zuko and the rest of his peasant companions back here in chains. And I don't want to see your face until that happens, do you understand?'

Azula's eyes brimmed with tears. 'You can't do this to me!' she yelled, hating the way her voice cracked. 'You can't treat me like Zuko!'

Ozai's eyes resembled the dragons painted ominously on the tapestries of the throne room, overflowing with murderous intent and bloodthirst. 'I'll stop treating you like a miserable little failure when you stop acting like one,' he snapped, and walked out of her bedroom on the ship.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind him, Azula crumpled to her knees and choked back a sob. She tugged her crown out of its place in her topknot and flung it against a mirror. The mirror shattered, filling the room with the delicate sounds of tinkling glass. The crown, rolling across the floor, was totally undamaged. Of course. Azula glared at it as if it alone was responsible for all her problems, and slowly picked herself up from the floor to lie in her bed instead.

_How dare he call me little princess,_ seethed Azula, clenching her jaw as she restlessly rolled back and forth. _I am the Fire Lord. I am not his little princess anymore._

But she was, she completely was, and both she and her father knew that nothing had changed since her coronation. The power dynamic between them had not shifted, as Azula had so hoped it would. She was still his little princess, totally under his control, and he was still the one in power. He was still the sun, on which the world revolved around.

Azula squeezed her eyes shut and started to plot as the waves beneath her ship slowly rocked her into a more peaceful, deadly state of mind. Anger would do her no good here. _He won't be the biggest star in the sky for much longer._

An eclipse was coming, and he wouldn't know about it until it was much too late.

* * *

'Get out,' snarled the guard.

Mai sighed. 'Is that the only thing you ever say around here?' Nevertheless, she complied, standing up slowly in her chains. Ty Lee followed suit, much more gracefully.

The guards unlocked the cell door, roughly dragging the two prisoners by the chains attached to the metal collars around their necks like they were no more than dogs. Ty Lee cringed at the way the metal chafed against her pale, delicate skin, while Mai remained stoic and emotionless. They stumbled up the steps to the deck quickly. Ty Lee was practically tripping over herself in her haste to see sunlight again. Although she was not a firebender, her Fire Nation nationality had ingrained a love for the sun deep inside her bones.

Sunlight spilled out onto them like a pot of liquid gold as they stepped foot on the deck. Ty Lee threw her head back, ignoring how the metal collar bit into her neck even further, and basked in the familiar warmth against her skin.

'Ty Lee,' Mai said softly. 'Look.'

The city of Caldera lay unravelled right before their eyes in all its sprawling glory. Buildings rose up, sturdy as rocks and red as lava. Mai hadn't realized how much she'd missed seeing red buildings until now, after having been stuck in a dull grey prison for a month. Caldera was like an onion; there were circles and circles of pagodas that wrapped around each other to surround one centre- a huge volcano that harboured the innermost, wealthiest part of the city.

The centre where the royal palace lay, twice as tall as all its surrounding buildings and ten times more fortified. It was so gigantic that it seemed to cut through the surrounding buildings as easily as knives through rice paper, and even rose up over the natural circular walls that surrounded it, made of the volcano the palace was built on. Mai had always loved the sight of the royal palace, but she would never admit it to anyone. She loved the way it sparkled and shone and caught the sunlight, as if the sun only rose and fell because of how ethereal sunrises and sunsets made the royal palace look.

And then Mai caught sight of a house that didn't bring back as many good memories as the palace had. She squinted, hoping to catch a glimpse of her mother or Tom-Tom from behind the windows, but of course she was much too far to see anything. She counted the floors until the third floor, where her bedroom used to be. Her house was not nearly big enough for her to be able to see individual rooms from this far away, but it was one of the largest in Caldera, second only to the royal palace. Its ridiculously large size made it easily visible even from this distance amongst all the other houses, scattered across the land like her brother's toys.

'We're home,' breathed Ty Lee reverently next to her. 'You should smile a bit more, Mai. It's a beautiful day.'

'We are _literally_ being shipped to our deaths, and you ask me to smile?' Mai retorted, her tone clipped.

Ty Lee was undeterred. 'That should be even more reason to enjoy the sun while we still can,' she pushed on stubbornly.

The guards, convinced that the girls were essentially harmless, walked away to join a game of Pai Sho that some of the crew were playing in the corner. Now was the time to talk freely. Ty Lee looked at Mai with a serious expression that the other girl had never seen on the acrobat before. 'Do you have a plan? How are we going to break out of the royal palace?' Ty Lee muttered under her breath quickly, faking a cheery smile that nobody but Mai saw through.

'The palace is like a fortress, but we have an advantage,' responded Mai in a tone equally as low. 'We know it inside out. I'd say we know it even better than Zuko. He was always too much of a wimp to go exploring the secret tunnels and the Dragonbone Catacombs with us and Azula,' she finished derisively.

Ty Lee snorted. 'That's true,' she agreed. 'We went exploring in the dungeons all the time. We could probably get out through the secret passages. But Azula...' she faltered, not wanting to say it. 'Azula knows about them too. What if she cordons them off? Or has security stationed there?'

Mai turned expressionless again. 'We can take any guards that come at us. And if she comes herself, well, it's two against one, and we've fought alongside her for years. We know every move she's ever going to make.'

'But she knows every move we're going to make, too,' said Ty Lee softly. 'And I'll bet you anything she's more than prepared for a chi-block attack now, especially considering how things ended the last time we saw her.'

Remembering that fateful day at the Boiling Rock, the girls fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Ty Lee stepped closer to the railing after a few moments, content to feel the salty ocean breeze on her face and watch as Caldera grew closer and closer. Mai tried not to let her troubled mind affect her as she tried to take in the scenery of what might possibly be the last time she would ever feel the sun until they escaped... or were executed. She shuddered slightly at the second thought.

Their ship slowed smoothly to a halt all too soon. Mai barely had time to take a last look at the stunning view of Caldera from the boat before the girls were hauled off of it just as degradingly as they had been last time, with their bodies slung over the guards' backs as they descended the unsteady rope ladder.

They were quickly piled into something that looked like a palanquin crossed with a cell. Instead of the usual wooden sticks that supported a comfortable enclosure with rich silky and velvety cushions inside, like Azula's old palanquin had been, the structure was completely made of steel and the 'comfortable enclosure' looked more like the girls' old cell back at the Boiling Rock. It was essentially a cage on sticks. The only good thing to be said about it was that it had cheap red curtains that the guards drew over the girls, probably as a small gesture of mercy for the prisoners to save face as they were carried through the streets of Caldera and up the path of the volcano that led to the heart of the royal city, where the royal palace was. Ty Lee was unusually silent, biting her lip until it bled and eyes darting nervously around the cell, as if she anticipated an attack at any moment. Mai, as usual, was at a loss for any words of comfort to console her friend, and if Ty Lee started crying in this infuriatingly tiny cage because she had accidentally slipped up and said something insensitive, someone was going to get murdered in here, and it wouldn't be Mai. Evaluating the best possible way to keep her sanity, she decided that the best course of action would be to keep her mouth tightly shut throughout the rest of the journey.

Mai saw that they had reached the gates of the palace when a royal guard unexpectedly ripped off the red curtains that covered them. Nodding to his team, he said, 'It's them. The prisoners are here.'

The gates slowly swung open, and they were carried into the palace grounds.

_The prisoners are here._

Ty Lee shuddered. 'Do you remember when we used to feed the turtleducks with Azula in like, that very pond?' She pointed to a painfully familiar pond where three girls had spent most of their childhood around.

Mai smiled despite herself. 'And you and Azula pushed me and Zuko in to try and get us together,' she remembered. 'I don't even know why. It wasn't like we weren't already engaged since birth. Of course we were going to have to marry each other in the end.' Her tone ended on a bitter, sour note. Ty Lee pretended she didn't notice it, because it was easier than having to ask Mai why and deal with the emotional turmoil that would almost certainly spill out of the normally reserved girl.

'I miss Azula, you know?' said Ty Lee quietly, playing with a strand of brown hair wrapped between her fingers. 'I mean, she was always mean, but never to us. Well... yeah, sometimes to us, but we never fought.'

'The only reason you two ever got along was because you always did exactly what she told us to do, and you can speak for yourself on that,' said Mai coldly. She mocked Ty Lee in a high-pitched voice. "She was never mean to us!' Did you somehow miss the part where she threw us in prison, or do you just have selective memory because you're just so obsessed with her?'

Ty Lee spluttered faintly. 'I am not! You don't know what you're talking about!' Her normally easygoing, pink aura had broiled to a dangerous, cloudy red.

"Oh, Azula, you're so confident, I really admire that about you!' Yeah, sure, Ty Lee,' Mai mocked cruelly in a high-pitched, singsong voice, knowing full well she was only doing this to distract herself from her conflicted feelings by inflicting pain on Ty Lee. ''Oh, Azula, you're so pretty and poetic but intimidating in a good way-''

'That wasn't what I said!' interrupted Ty Lee, voice shaking. 'Just leave me alone, Mai! Just because you're always depressed and sad doesn't mean I want to be, too! Just... stop it, okay?' She sniffed, furious at herself for the moisture that clouded her grey eyes. She raised a sleeve to rub her eyes fiercely, leaving angry red marks on her eyelids.

Mai's expression softened, if only slightly. She reached out to place a hand on Ty Lee's arm, but Ty Lee jerked back sharply, causing the metal cage to rock to the left.

'Hey!' exclaimed Mai, her back crashing into the cage roughly.

The guards carrying their cage glared at Ty Lee. 'Watch it, girl. Another move and we might just kill you here instead,' one growled in a gravelly tone. 'It'd save his Majesty the trouble of dealing with you, anyway.'

Ty Lee shrank back, refusing to meet Mai's eyes.

They were carried to a tower separate from the royal palace. Mai's blood went cold. 'These aren't the dungeons,' she muttered, and saw out of the corners of her eyes that Ty Lee had gone stiff and rigid too. Their knowledge of secret passages wouldn't do them any good here.

The tower was tall, ominous and foreboding, erupting out of the stone like something dark and unnatural, meant to haunt vivid nightmares. 'This is where Zuko's uncle Iroh was imprisoned,' Mai breathed in recognition as the soldiers hiked up the spiral stairs, breathing heavily through their helmets under the weight of the two girls and the metal cage, which was probably heavier than both of them combined.

'This is where the traitors go,' spat a soldier. 'Fitting, isn't it? The closest to the royal palace?'

Mai bit her lip angrily and didn't answer. A familiar metallic tang filled her mouth slowly. She let herself be carried out of the metal cage and thrown roughly into a cell with Ty Lee. 'Watch it,' she snapped as the guard almost slammed the cell door on her foot.

'If I were you, girlie, I wouldn't get snarky to the people in charge of your food and wellbeing,' the guard snarled.

'If I were you, I'd remember who you're dealing with,' Mai retorted fiercely.

But the guard just laughed. 'Being the Fire Lord's former lackeys have really given you two a high opinion of yourselves, hasn't it? All I know is I'm dealing with two little girls who don't know their place yet. But don't worry. The reality of your situation is going to crush you both like a ton of bricks.' He flashed them a cat's humourless smile. 'Have fun down here.'

His retreating footsteps echoed throughout the walls.

Mai closed her eyes, sank to the floor, and racked her brains for a plan.

* * *

'There is no way the Fire Nation has always been this hot,' declared Sokka, dramatically flopping down on a rock. 'It's supposed to be autumn now! How is it still so _hot?'_

Zuko laughed. 'If you think this is hot, you should come in the summer. You wouldn't last a day there.'

'I have,' said Sokka irritatedly. 'Or have you forgotten about our whole invasion? But I'm beginning to think you guys don't even have seasons- you just have Hot and Hotter.'

'Better than the Water Tribe's Cold and Colder,' retorted Zuko. 'While you guys freeze to death in your little igloos, we're out having fun at festivals and at the beach.'

'Zuko? Having fun?' Toph snorted. 'I'll believe that when I see it.'

Zuko rolled his eyes. 'Very funny, Toph. Because using your blindness as punchlines for jokes _definitely_ hasn't gotten completely old by now.'

'Oh, come on, even you have to admit that you're not exactly the most fun person to have around,' Toph yawned. 'You and Katara would practically rival each other for the title of 'wet blanket' at parties.'

'Hey! That was uncalled for,' Katara interjected. 'Besides, I can have fun! Remember when I tried to pull a scam with you, Toph?'

'Oh, yeah, because that turned out so well,' said Toph sarcastically.

Katara bristled. 'Well, at least I tried! If anything, Zuko's the wet blanket around here, not me!'

Zuko spluttered. 'I bet I've pulled more scams than all of you combined! I'm not the wet blanket!'

Sokka's and Toph's eyes widened simultaneously. 'You've pulled a scam?' they asked in unison.

'Wow,' remarked Toph, 'I never would have pegged Zuko as that type of guy to play all those elaborate games just to get money. I thought he would have thought it was too good for his Highness to do or something,' she finished mockingly.

'Actually, it was a pretty simple scam,' said Zuko casually. 'It's the one where you point your sword at someone's neck and tell them to give you all their money.'

Katara erupted into a half-disapproving huff, half-amused snort. 'That's- that's...' she said, trying to reprimand Zuko sternly, but her giggles got the best of her. 'Okay, you shouldn't have done that, Zuko!'

Sokka laughed. 'Hey, why didn't we think of that scam?'

Katara glared at him. 'Because we're Team Avatar, responsible for spreading _goodness_ into the world, not striking terror into people's hearts like Zuko was doing? As funny as Zuko made it sound, he still shouldn't have done that! It's not right.'

Toph made a face. 'Okay, goody two-shoes, go ahead and preach whatever you want,' she scoffed. 'It doesn't change the fact that Zuko pulled some awesome scams. And that he's officially achieved awesomeness status in my mind.'

'Ooh, what about me?' Aang piped up. 'Do I have awesomeness status too?'

Toph nodded at him. 'You all do! Well, except for Katara.'

'Hey, why not me?' demanded Katara.

'Because one of the requirements of achieving awesomeness status is not being a total preachy wet blanket who makes over-emotional speeches about hope all the time,' said Toph smugly, crossing her arms. 'And you don't meet it.'

Katara huffed and stormed ahead of them. Aang's eyebrows raised. 'I know you were only joking, Toph, but maybe you took it a little too far,' he commented.

Toph groaned exasperatedly. 'It's not my fault Katara's _sensitive,'_ she snarked. 'I was just kidding around. She doesn't have to take everything so seriously.'

Aang just shook his head and walked over to Katara.

After trudging along the barren ground for at least two hours, the group was beginning to feel signs of fatigue. 'I'm hungry,' complained Sokka. 'We haven't eaten since morning. Can't we just fly on Appa instead?'

Appa bellowed in protest.

Aang looked towards the faint outline of a city far ahead of them. He shook his head. 'No, we can't. It's too easy to spot us on Appa, and besides, he's tired anyway. Aren't you, boy?' he asked, stroking Appa's fur.

Sokka spluttered indignantly. 'Well, we're tired, too, in case you haven't noticed! And if we fly on Appa, we'll get there much quicker! And we can finally rest- and eat.'

'Is food really all you think about?' asked Suki, amused.

'Yeah, it _does_ get annoying after a while, doesn't it?' snapped Katara viciously.

Aang half-screamed in frustration. 'You guys!' he exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead. Everyone stopped, shocked to see Aang lose his temper. 'You- I'm so frustrated with you! You two-' he pointed at Katara and Toph- 'are constantly at each other's throats! And you-' he whirled around to face Sokka- 'you can never stop whining, can you? I am trying so hard to keep this group together, but I just can't! Have you guys noticed how I'm always the pacifist here? I'm- I'm just so tired of fixing up all of your messes! Spirits, can't you guys just quit it for once? I need a break.'

Katara's face softened. 'Aang-' she began, placing a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

'Not now, Katara,' he grumbled, turning away to walk beside Appa, far ahead of all of them.

Toph huffed loudly. 'How does Twinkletoes always have the ability to make me feel responsible for the consequences of my actions? I was perfectly fine making morally questionable decisions and teasing Katara before he came along and made me have a... a _conscience_ and everything. Ugh,' she shuddered in disgust.

'You know, Toph, my respect for Aang and his wishes for us to get along is the only thing stopping me from hurling mud at you right now,' retorted Katara.

'Oh, really?' challenged Toph, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes. 'Well, I think it's just because you know you'd never stand a chance against me.'

Katara stopped and spun around fully. She cocked her head to the side, her mouth twisting into a sneer. 'Oh, you wanna bet?' she said darkly.

Just as they were about to strike each other, Katara with a glowing whip of water and Toph with stones she had levitated, Zuko burst between them. 'Enough!' he roared, throwing his arms out between the two girls. 'Stop it! We've all had enough of you two fighting!'

Katara's eyes hardened. 'Get out of here, Zuko. This doesn't concern you.'

'Yes, it does!' defended Suki, intervening as well. 'It concerns all of us. You two are acting like five-year-olds who can't get along! You're embarrassing yourselves and I'm ashamed to say I'm a part of this group! You two attack at the slightest provocation and you should learn to just grow up! Believe me, there have been plenty of times where I've wanted to fight it out with Sokka-'

'Wait, what?' interrupted Sokka.

'-but I kept a level head and didn't lose my temper! We talked it out, like civilized _adults!' _finished Suki.

'I'm not an adult,' muttered Toph angrily. 'I'm just a kid!'

'Well, that's too bad, because there's a war going on and we all have to grow up a lot faster than we should, alright?' yelled Zuko, fire smoking out of his fists. 'I was _thirteen_ when my father banished me! I wasn't an adult either! But we're in the middle of a _war,_ Toph. There's no time to be a kid anymore. Learn to grow up and cooperate with other people. And that goes for you too, Katara.'

Toph's shoulders slumped, and she dropped the boulders she was levitating. But Katara's eyes shone brighter than ever- with tears, Zuko noticed with a pang.

'How _dare_ you tell me to grow up,' snarled Katara furiously. 'How dare you! I lost my mother when I was just a kid because of _your_ grandfather! I was the one who had to step up and take care of our family! I never had time to be a kid either, Zuko! At least you had- had servants and stuff! I had no one to turn to except Sokka! We were all alone out there, and I had to step up and take on so much responsibility that it felt like I was being crushed slowly, day by day, and you tell me to _grow up?!'_

And she sent the water whip careening towards Zuko, who looked briefly stunned for a second before shooting up a fire shield to extinguish it. He paused, fists aflame, ready to combat another attack. But it never came. Katara was hunched over on the ground, silent tears streaming from her face. Zuko dropped his fighting stance as Sokka rushed over to his sister.

'Katara,' Sokka said gently, his eyes brighter than normal. Katara looked at him and realized he was trying to keep his tears from overflowing too, because of the mention of their mother. 'Katara. I'm so sorry you felt like no one was there for you except me. But we managed. We survived, alright? And now- now we have Aang and Toph and Zuko and Suki, and we'll manage again, because we're- well, we're _Team Avatar!_ We can do anything! There are people on your side who support you, even if you feel like you're all alone. And even if everyone else is gone, I'll always be there, okay? I'll be on your side no matter what.'

Katara sniffed and nodded. 'Okay. Thanks, Sokka. I appreciate it,' she said, flashing a watery smile at her brother, and slowly got up from the floor.

Sokka held her as they walked towards Aang and Appa, who had stopped walking after the commotion. 'What happened?' Aang asked worriedly. 'Is she alright?'

'I'm fine,' Katara dismissed. 'But, Aang- I think there's a way we can fly towards the Fire Nation without being seen. We're all tired and hungry, and I think we should get in and out as fast as possible. I don't want to spend longer than necessary here.'

Aang paused for a moment, then nodded decisively. 'Okay. What do you have in mind?'

The group gathered around Appa to listen. 'Sokka's comment about how hot it was gave me an idea,' explained Katara. 'I can manipulate the steam in the air to cover us up- like you can do with clouds, Aang, except I won't be using airbending to cause the clouds to go around us- I'll create my own clouds with the steam in the air, and make it so foggy that no one will see us approach. Then we hide Appa in a cave like we did last time we came to the Fire Nation, and try and find Mai and Ty Lee to set them free.'

Aang considered Katara's proposal. 'Alright,' he said, and the group whooped with relieved cheers and piled up on Appa.

'Appa, yip yip,' Aang commanded, and the sky bison took off.

Katara stood on Appa's back and became immersed in controlling the steam to cover them, while leaving just enough of a clear hole in the front so they could see where they were going.

Zuko wasted no time in trying to plan their escape. 'Alright, guys,' he addressed Toph, Suki, and Sokka, the members of the group who weren't vital to controlling the sky bison and making sure they weren't seen, 'how are we going to plan this prison breakout?'

Sokka pulled out a blank sheet of paper, an ink and a brush. 'Well, we should be pros at this after the Boiling Rock,' he joked. 'And I'm the Idea Guy, so don't worry, Sparky, we'll figure out something.'

Suki laughed and squeezed Sokka's arm encouragingly. 'He really is amazing at coming up with plans,' she told the rest of the group proudly.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. 'Then let's get down to business.'

'Okay,' began Sokka. 'First, we have to know where they're being kept.' He looked at Zuko expectantly.

Zuko started. 'Well, Azula said something about the palace dungeons, but I remember thinking that was weird because traitors don't normally go there. The palace dungeons are reserved for holding prisoners who have special talents or things that the Fire Lord might need to use on missions or on special cases that normal soldiers just can't do. Prisoners being exploited was really common in the old days, because they don't have a lot of power on their own. So in order to save space, the few traitors who aren't executed, maybe because they're important figures or serve as an example to people- take my uncle, for example- are usually imprisoned in a tower near the royal palace. It's connected to the palace by a long wall that's nearly impossible to walk on if you're not a member of the royal guard. I think it's one of the only things I know about the palace that Azula doesn't- she visited Uncle as little as possible and always seemed in a hurry to get out. I don't think she ever took much notice of why my uncle was there and not in the palace dungeons.'

Sokka considered this for a moment, chewing on his lip contemplatively. 'Okay, alright, so... which do you think is more likely for them to be in, then, Zuko? Palace dungeons or the tower near the palace?'

Zuko inhaled. 'Tower near the palace,' he said finally.

Sokka raised an eyebrow sceptically. 'You sure? Because if you're wrong, this mission is going to be a total bust and everything we've worked for will fall to pieces.'

Zuko groaned and clutched his head. 'You're not helping, Sokka! I know that!'

'Oh, give Zuko a break, Sokka,' Suki reprimanded.

Sokka looked like a child who had just been caught stealing from the cookie jar. 'I'm just saying!' he defended half-heartedly. 'If Zuko gets this wrong and we get discovered, who knows what will happen? Aang might die. _Again.'_

Suki's eyes widened. 'What?'

'I'll fill you in later,' Sokka said.

'We've got plenty of time now,' shrugged Suki.

Sokka sighed. 'Well, in Ba Sing Se, while Aang and Katara were down in the Crystal Catacombs- they're these ancient tunnels beneath the city- Zuko turned against them-'

'What?!' exclaimed Suki.

Zuko felt a rush of heat in his cheeks. 'I was never _on_ your side in the first place!' he said defensively.

Sokka looked at him disapprovingly. 'Katara was about to use her freaky Spirit Water thing on your scar! She told me everything. You turned good for like, two seconds before Azula lured you back to the bad guy side.'

Toph laughed. 'No wonder she was so distrustful of Zuko when he first came to the group.'

Zuko turned a full-blown tomato red and looked at his crossed legs, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

'Well, anyway, then these Dai Li soldiers- they worked for Long Feng, a really evil guy who wanted to rule the Earth Kingdom through the Earth King and keep him in the dark about the Hundred-Year War- chased him and Katara around, and Azula was with them, using her lightning as usual, and they were losing badly. So Aang went into the Avatar State, but then Azula shot him chock-full of lightning, and he...uh, kind of died. And then Katara revived him with her Spirit Water from the North Pole, but he still has Azula's lightning scar on his back,' finished Sokka grandly.

Suki's eyes were round as saucers. 'Wow,' she breathed in awe. Then she promptly punched Sokka on the shoulder. Hard. _'That's_ for having those awesome adventures without me.'

Sokka rubbed his shoulder resentfully. 'We broke you out of prison! How much more awesome can an adventure get?' he whined.

Suki pretended to think it over. 'Mm, I guess so,' she said, grinning, and kissed Sokka.

Toph mimed throwing up. 'Gross. I wish I couldn't see you doing that.'

Zuko looked at her curiously. 'You can?'

Toph shrugged. 'I may not be able to see anything that's not on Appa, but I can sense the vibrations of things that are riding on Appa. Maybe I can't bend animals, but I can still sense what's going on up here.'

'Huh,' remarked Zuko. 'That's... pretty impressive.'

'Now I wish I didn't have it,' muttered Toph as Sokka placed another kiss on Suki's lips.

They were approaching the city quickly. 'This is Caldera,' Zuko breathed, recognizing the familiar volcanic crater that the city was built inside. His eyes widened. 'Aang!' he called.

Aang turned around. 'Yeah?'

'We don't have any coverage here! This is the innermost ring of the city- there aren't any caves or anything. We have to settle in the city outside Caldera, the crater, and find a cave. In the evening, we'll climb the steps leading to the crater and free Mai and Ty Lee then,' said Zuko.

Aang nodded, and steered Appa out of the range of the crater and down into a small cave he spotted. The group disembarked. 'It's still around four in the afternoon,' said Sokka. 'What should we do?'

'Get some sleep,' said Zuko gravely. 'We'll need all our strength. We're breaking Mai and Ty Lee out at midnight.'


	4. chapter four

The moon shone high in the dark sky. Zuko, Katara, Suki and Toph pulled on the black clothing that Suki had stolen from a couple of unsuspecting vendors at the marketplace. Being the least recognizable of their group, she was easily able to sneak in and take what she needed without being spotted. Aang slumped in a shadowy corner of the cave, frustrated that he couldn't go on the rescue mission. The group had unanimously agreed that if Aang were caught, the consequences could be disastrous.

But Aang had had enough of being left behind. 'I want to go on the mission,' exclaimed Aang, storming up to Katara. 'And I don't need Sokka to stay behind and babysit me either!'

Sokka looked wounded. 'I'm not babysitting you!' he protested. 'We'll just be two guys having fun and hanging out together, you know? One-on-one guy time. It'll be great!'

Aang ignored Sokka. 'Please, guys. I want to help. Let me go on the mission,' he begged.

Katara and Zuko shared a look. 'It's too dangerous,' they said in unison.

'What have you two become, our parents?' snorted Toph. She sobered up at the silence that greeted her remark. 'Okay, okay, sorry. Katara and Zuko are right, you know, Aang. If you get caught, there's no telling what they'll do to you.'

Aang bristled. 'Well, they can't kill me! I'll just reincarnate anyway, and that's the last thing they want! There's nothing worse they can do to me than that, and you need an airbender on your team!'

'Believe me,' said Zuko quietly, 'there are things I've seen my father do that are much worse than death.'

The group fell into an uncomfortable silence. Katara stepped forward and placed her hands on Aang's shoulders. He was shocked to see tears glistening in her bright blue eyes that shone like the moon, threatening to spill liquid onto her cheeks. 'Aang,' she began, her voice trembling, 'you've already died once. I just don't want to see you getting hurt again, alright? If you get caught, that's our last hope for saving the world gone... forever.'

Aang spluttered. 'But if you guys get captured, you're my last hopes gone too! I need you! And not just because you're my bending teachers- well, except for you, Suki- but because you're my _friends._ I can't win this war without you,' he pleaded. 'And if you guys go and get yourselves captured and killed, I'll spend forever wondering if the outcome would have been different had I gone with you.'

'You can,' said Zuko harshly. 'You can win this war without us, Avatar. It might be harder and it might be tougher, but as long as you're alive, the world has a chance. Don't you realize by now?' He gestured to the group. 'Everyone is expendable- everyone but you. We can all die, but as long as you live, the world has hope. The world can be saved. And it's your responsibility to do it, Aang, so you'd better step up and start acting like a real Avatar instead of someone who's stupidly risking his life on missions he doesn't even need to go on because he has a hero complex!' he yelled, stabbing a finger into Aang's chest. 'When are you going to realize you can't save everyone, and you can't die trying?!'

Aang bit his lip and stepped back. 'I'm sorry, Zuko,' he muttered, averting his eyes. 'I just don't want you guys to die out there, alright? I'm worried-' his voice broke- 'I'm worried you won't make it back!'

Katara's tears burst like a dam, spilling over her face in torrents. She didn't say anything, just leapt towards Aang and hugged him tightly. 'I love you,' she choked out in his ear, so softly he almost couldn't catch it.

Aang hugged her back just as tightly. 'I love you too,' he said. They released each other and Katara wiped the last remnants of tears from her face hurriedly before rushing over to Sokka and pulling him into a hug, too.

'Are we done with the hugging yet?' sighed an annoyed Toph, rolling her eyes pointedly.

Aang flashed her a watery grin. 'You know you want one too, Mister Tough Guy,' he said, and wrapped his arms around her. Toph stiffened for a moment before tentatively returning the action.

Beside them, Suki pulled Sokka into a hug too. 'Good luck,' said Sokka. 'Not that you'll need it, of course, with your awesome Kyoshi Warrior skills.'

Suki grinned and punched him lightly on the shoulder. 'Thanks for believing in me,' she said, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. 'I'm going to make it back,' she added determinedly, as if saying it would make it come true.

Sokka nodded. 'I have no doubt you will,' he promised.

Zuko and Toph looked at each other. 'So,' Toph began.

'So,' reiterated Zuko, slightly grumpily. 'We're the only two who aren't complete emotional wrecks right now, then.'

'Yep,' said Toph awkwardly. 'Just you and me. Yep.'

And then Sokka leapt into a surprised Zuko's arms, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Toph sighed. 'Make that one,' she grumbled under her breath.

'Sokka,' eked out Zuko, gasping for breath, 'I think this hug is less about sentimental reasons and more about you trying- to _literally_ crush- my lungs before- we leave-' he gasped loudly.

Sokka released Zuko with that infuriating grin still on his face. 'Maybe,' he shrugged. 'Still. We shared a hug right before you're off to go to some important mission where you'll almost certainly defy death! This is a bonding moment, Zuko. _Booonnnding moooommment.'_

Zuko rolled his eyes, not wanting to show Sokka that he did secretly like the hug- even if his ribs would probably never recover. 'Yeah, sure, whatever,' he dismissed, but then pulled Sokka back into a short, one-armed hug. 'There,' he said triumphantly. 'That's more manly.'

'Have it your way,' said Sokka, stifling a laugh.

Katara, Toph, Zuko and Suki stood at the mouth of the cave. They took one last look at Aang, Sokka, Appa and Momo before heading off into the darkness.

Aang looked at Sokka worriedly. 'Do you think they'll be okay?'

Sokka slowly brought himself to sit beside the campfire, looking exhausted. Aang realized with a muted jolt that his cheerful demeanour had just been a façade to lift everyone else's spirits. But that façade had dropped, leaving Sokka a brooding mess. 'I don't know, Aang,' he said tiredly. 'I don't know.'

* * *

'This is useless!' ranted Mai as she kicked the bars of her cell again, leaving her toes throbbing and hurt beneath her flimsy shoes. 'We're never going to get out!'

'Stop it, Mai!' chastised Ty Lee, grasping Mai's arm and pulling her arm away from the bars. 'You're only hurting yourself!'

'I don't _care!'_ retorted Mai harshly, yanking her arm out of Ty Lee's grasp and glaring at her. 'If we don't get out of this stupid cell, we're going to _die!_ I've tried escaping through the window but it's too small, I've tried picking the lock with bits of granite on the floor I fashioned into a key, I've tried finding a weak point in the cell door- but there's nothing! And what have you done, Ty Lee?'

Ty Lee stepped back, swallowing a lump in her throat. 'Mai,' she sighed, 'there's no way out of here. The sooner you accept that, the better.'

Mai looked at her disgustedly, as if Ty Lee was something on the bottom of her shoe. 'What happened to us?' she demanded. 'You were always the persistent one- I was always the one who didn't care. Is this what happens to you in a life and death situation, Ty Lee? You just... you just _give up?!'_

'Mai,' Ty Lee said slowly, 'I haven't given up. I'm just sensible enough to know that we can't escape out of here _right now.'_

Mai's tense stance relaxed slightly. 'What do you mean?' she asked, her voice betraying a hint of the curiosity she was feeling.

'There's no way we can get out of here from where we are right now,' explained Ty Lee patiently. 'I think we should save our energy- wait until the guards release us from this cell. That's when we strike, and try to escape. I can chi-block them, you can take their weapons, and we can be on our way.'

Mai's mouth had dropped open in shock. 'Ty Lee,' she said slowly, 'I can't- I can't even find the words to express how utterly and completely horrible that plan is.'

Ty Lee looked offended and wrinkled her nose. 'Well, there's no need to be like that!' she argued. 'I can't see anything wrong with it, though,' she added defiantly, crossing her arms and sticking her bottom lip out in a petulant pout. 'Perhaps you'd like to enlighten me.'

'Oh, believe me, I will,' snapped Mai. 'For starters, the entire nation is going to be outside the palace gates on their way to Sozin Memorial Park, attending a ceremony centred around us! They'll want to catch a glimpse of us as much as possible- our faces will practically be engraved in everyone's minds! If anyone sees us, anyone at all, we're dead meat. Secondly, there's going to be a ton of extra security in preparation for at least a third of the population- the ones who are lucky enough to have jobs that have been cancelled because of the fact that it's a national holiday- who will be out on the streets celebrating! We're good, but the entire Fire Nation is going to be chasing us if we step one toe out of line on that day. Even we can't beat those odds, Ty Lee.'

Ty Lee slumped against the nearest wall defeatedly. 'Then what are we going to do?' she asked in a very small, cracking voice, brown eyes wide with the burden of hopelessness.

Mai couldn't bring herself to meet Ty Lee's heartbroken eyes. 'I don't know, Ty Lee,' she said as she kicked the bars once more, ignoring the throbbing pain in her toes that reignited. 'I don't know.'

* * *

It was almost time.

Azula shook herself out of her reverie and focused on what she had to do tonight. The full moon shone high and bright in the sky from the window of her room in the palace- she had returned to it earlier that day, under the pretence of devising plans on how to capture Zuko and his friends. Despite herself, a small smile crept up onto her lips. If Zuko's gang was planning on breaking Mai and Ty Lee out tonight, the full moon was good news for that water peasant girl who'd almost beaten her at her own game. Almost.

_Almost wasn't good enough to beat me,_ thought Azula, the smirk on her face inching up even more.

She donned her new suit of armour that she'd had specially made, after Suki's weapon had sliced through her old suit like butter, and tied her hair in its signature topknot. She applied a thin coat of rouge to her lips as well, and surveyed herself in the mirror with her hands on her hips, satisfied.

Slipping out of her room, silent as a mouse, she was about to go to the secret tunnels beneath the palace, where she had some business to take care of, before realizing that she was around half an hour early. _That won't do,_ thought Azula, curling her lip. _I need to make a grand entrance when I go to the tunnels, and I can't do that if half the soldiers I recruited aren't there. Maybe... maybe I'll head to the dungeons and see if the rescue attempt is happening tonight. Mai and Ty Lee should already be here, anyway._

Azula knew the secret passages to the dungeons like the back of her hand, having gone exploring all the time as a child with Mai and Ty Lee. She slipped behind a familiar old tapestry of her great-grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, and found a groove in the wall that the tips of her fingers scrabbled to get a hold on. She yanked the hidden door open fiercely, causing it to squeak, and breathed in the musty scent that emitted from the other side, signifying that she was currently standing in front of a centuries-old tunnel that hadn't been used properly in decades. She climbed into the tunnel and closed the door.

Azula turned and ran through the tunnels, navigating her way through with ridiculous ease. It was dark, but Azula wasn't the best firebender in the world for no reason. She held a cerulean blue flame in her palm that illuminated the way. Her feet carried her across paths she'd walked hundreds of times before, and she quickly came to another hidden door that she pushed open roughly. A cloud of dust appeared in the air from the movement, and the hinges of the door groaned loudly. Azula winced. When she had time, she was going to oil these damned hinges herself- she couldn't bear to endure another infernal squeaking sound.

She stepped out to the other side and closed the door. Sure enough, her keen sense of direction had not failed her. She was standing in the dungeons.

The empty dungeons.

A fluttering sense of panic threatened to overwhelm her. _Where are Ty Lee and Mai?_

From the corner of her eye, she spotted a guard walking, probably on his nightly patrol. 'Excuse me!' she commanded to the guard. 'You there!'

The guard turned to look at her, his eyes widening, and immediately dropped into a respectful bow. 'Fire Lord Azula,' he greeted.

'There were supposed to be two traitors arriving here this afternoon,' said Azula coldly. 'Where are they, and why are they not here?'

The guard's brows furrowed. 'Your Majesty, surely you know that traitors are imprisoned in the tower behind the palace,' he said, trying to keep the confusion out of his voice. 'If I recall correctly, that was where former General Iroh was imprisoned. Uh, of course, that was before he, um, escaped.'

Azula's eyes had widened. 'Of course I knew that,' she lied. In her mind, she cursed herself for not paying enough attention to where her uncle had been imprisoned. 'It just slipped my mind.' She glared at the guard and waved her hand. 'You're dismissed.'

The guard sunk into another low bow before continuing his patrols.

Azula allowed herself a frustrated, angry exhale before resuming her composed posture. How could she have been so thoughtless? She quickly did some mental approximations. This whole detour had taken five minutes at best, so she still had twenty-five remaining before the... business she had to take care of would commence. At least there was a small comfort- she had no doubt Zuko knew where Mai and Ty Lee were being kept, if only because he'd visited their pathetic excuse for an uncle too many times to count. And to think, she'd mentioned that she thought Mai and Ty Lee would be 'rotting away in the palace dungeons' to Zuko on Kyoshi Island, revealing just how little she knew about where they were being kept. A disgusted shudder of hot embarrassment coursed through her. She would not make the same slip-ups again.

She wrenched open the secret door concealed in the wall. She climbed in and shut the door behind her, and took off running.

* * *

'It's a full moon,' remarked Katara, her legs aching slightly from crouching so much. 'That's good.'

'Not for me,' grumbled Zuko, who had made it very clear that he thoroughly did not enjoy hiding behind a watchtower stationed on the wall connecting the prison and the palace. But they had to- they were lying in wait for the guards to pass.

Katara's eyes sparkled with the thrill of adrenaline, feeling the power from the moon course through her veins with a euphoric smirk. 'Lighten up, pretty boy,' she commented lightly, punching Zuko on the shoulder playfully. 'That means all those firebender guards will practically be helpless when I face them.'

'Don't underestimate them, Katara,' warned Suki. 'I've had some experience in Fire Nation prisons. They don't need their bending to be able to do quite a bit of damage.'

'That's why firebending and waterbending sucks,' snorted Toph dismissively. 'It all depends on the sun and the moon. Zuko probably stands a better chance of kicking Katara's butt when the sun's out, and vice versa. But I could take both of you anytime, because earth never disappears.'

'Face me while we're at sea, and we'll see how cocky you get then, O Great Earthbender,' retorted Katara.

'Oh, I-'

'Shh!' hissed Zuko, spotting the guards coming their way. The group quieted down quickly. 'The guards are coming. You guys remember the plan?'

'Yep. You, Katara and Suki steal their uniforms while I sit behind and do nothing,' said Toph glumly.

'You're not going to do nothing, Toph, you're going to help us take them out,' said Katara reprovingly. 'You're just too small to fit into the uniforms. It would look weird and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves, so you'll have to trail us from behind.'

'Oh, and Miss Water Tribe in a guard's uniform wouldn't look weird either?' snarked Toph. 'They're going to take one look at your brown skin and blue eyes and know you're not supposed to be here. Zuko could stand a chance if he didn't have his scar marring his face, but-'

'Hey!' said Zuko, self-consciously putting a hand up to touch his scar.

'But he could be recognized a mile away,' continued Toph ruthlessly. 'Well, I'm guessing he could, because I can't actually see, but judging by everyone's ability to know it's you in an instant, Zuko, you'll forgive me if I'm not going to bet too heavily on the fact that you won't be found out. Suki kind of stands a chance, I guess, since no one really knows she's travelling with us and she was able to pass undetected at a market, but she's clearly Earth Kingdom, so the guards are probably going to be at least a little suspicious.'

'But Toph,' said Suki with a grin on her face that Katara thought looked eerily like Sokka's- of course he would rub off his most infuriating expressions on his nice girlfriend- 'you've forgotten that we have darkness on our side. These soldiers can't see things that are more than five feet in front of them, and by then, we'll already have gotten close enough to them for us to take them out.'

Toph considered this with a thoughtful expression on her deceivingly delicate features. 'Oh. Well, I guess,' she shrugged. 'Still. You guys better be careful, because if you guys get caught, you'll probably be sent to prison, but if I get caught...' She shuddered in disgust. 'I'll be going back to my family for sure.'

She said it with such disgust and venom in her voice that the rest of the group softened. 'Toph,' Katara began, 'if you want to talk about it-'

'You guys will have time for a therapy session later,' interrupted Zuko. Katara glared at him, but he ignored it. 'On my count, we attack the guards. Three... two... one... go!'

The group leapt out from behind the back of the watchtower and quickly took down the unsuspecting guards. There were four in total- one for each of them to target.

'Hey!' exclaimed the guard whom Katara had selected as her target. He was horrified to see his hands twitching and jerking. A sense of pure fear ran through him as he felt his own fist coming up in front of him. 'What's going on?'

'Don't try to fight it,' said Katara a little sadly, raising her own hands in front of her to string the man along like a puppet . 'You won't win.'

And she drove the man's fist through his skull.

Beside her, Suki, Zuko and Toph were fighting their own battles, though none had taken their guards out so quickly and with such little effort as Katara had. Suki was the second to disable her guard- she used her fan to slice through her victim's pale neck, and the guard dropped to the ground, lifeless eyes still frozen open in horror. Suki stared at the blood on the blades of her fan with a numb kind of shock, and looked to Katara, who seemed to be in the same situation- stunned at her own hidden ruthlessness that had come out to play under the cover of soul-sucking darkness.

At the same time, Toph ripped a chunk of bricks off the wall, and chucked it at her guard's head. She collapsed with a soft exhale, her body falling to the floor with a loud clatter of armour. She wasn't dead- Toph had merely knocked her unconscious. Katara looked at the young earthbender bitterly and wished that the full moon hadn't been out, wished that she hadn't let her own panicked desperation kill a man, hoped fervently that she would forget the image of the horror-struck man who hadn't known what was happening to him. But she knew, deep down, that she never would. No one forgot their first kill.

And then Toph struck the guard's forehead again, and her victim let out her last breath. Both Katara and Suki's eyes widened in shock. 'Toph!' exclaimed Katara, feeling like the air was being choked out of her as she spoke. 'Why did you do that?'

Toph looked at her with dull eyes. 'We can't have her escape and alert the others,' she said, but her voice was muffled by the sick feeling curdling in her stomach. 'We're at war, Katara. Sometimes... we have to do what's necessary.'

And then Toph staggered to the edge of the wall and promptly vomited the meagre dinner she'd had all over the side. Katara rushed beside her, and an annoyed thought flashed through Toph's mind- that Katara had come to chastise her, like she always did- but that thought vanished when Katara purged her guts over the side of the wall, too.

Zuko was the last of them to take care of his guard. It was excusable, and expected, honestly, because he had always fought with firebending and it just wasn't as powerful during a full moon. Instead of bothering to sap precious energy by trying to conjure up a flame, he went the old-fashioned way and punched the guard's lights out, definitely breaking his nose by the sickening crunch that echoed through the night and knocking out a few teeth, too. But he was fighting to kill, and that wasn't enough. So Zuko, ignoring the queasy feeling in his stomach, took the guard's neck into the crook of his elbow and snapped it.

The sickening sound of bone snapping almost made him feel like he would see his dinner again, but he swallowed and managed to keep it firmly in his stomach.

The silence that greeted them calmed his nerves a bit.

Katara wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her tunic and swallowed. 'That was my first kill,' she said, her voice trembling a bit. 'No one ever told me it would feel so _awful.'_

'Mine too,' gulped Toph, coughing a fit. 'I didn't know it would feel like that. I never- I never want to do that again. I don't know how soldiers do it every single day- it feels so empty and sick, I just...'

'It was mine, too,' said Zuko a bit queasily. He wiped the sweat from his brow.

'It was my second,' said Suki quietly. All of the group's heads snapped towards her. 'My first was a Fire Nation soldier who got a bit too close for comfort to one of my friends. But I wasn't... I wasn't in time to save her.' She swallowed thickly. 'The only thing I could do after the horrible things he did to her was to avenge her death. And I did.'

Suki seemed to notice the curious stares at her, and she drew herself up. 'And I don't regret a single thing,' she snarled, baring her teeth a bit, especially to Zuko. 'That was partly why I joined the Kyoshi Warriors- so I'd never feel helpless again. I don't regret this either. We did what we had to do.'

Zuko's eyes averted to his shoes. 'Yeah,' he said a bit roughly. 'We did what we had to do. Now come on, we have to get these uniforms off the guards and onto us. Toph, since you won't be changing, you'll be in charge of hiding the bodies once we're done taking their uniforms.'

Toph swallowed. 'Sure,' she said weakly.

Katara closed her eyes as she stripped the uniform off of Toph's victim- she didn't bother with her own victim, since he was a male, and the uniform probably wouldn't fit right. Suki probably wouldn't have any trouble fitting into her victim's uniform- the guard she'd taken out had been a girl, after all. A young girl, who'd probably had family and a life and friends who would mourn her... _We did what we had to do, we did what we had to do,_ Katara repeated to herself in her mind, like a mantra.

But the sick feeling in her stomach wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried.

She quickly put the armour on and looked to see Suki and Zuko, also in their own uniforms. Toph had already dumped most of the bodies over the wall. She took her own victim- the one Katara had stripped of armour- by the hands and dragged her over the wall, where her body fell with a thump that sent shivers through the group. 'That's the last one,' announced Toph softly. 'I'll stick to the side while you guys pretend to patrol.'

Zuko nodded. 'Good idea.'

As they walked, a few guards passed them, but they did nothing more than nod tersely and continue on their way. Katara couldn't help but hold her breath every time one passed, but nothing happened. None of them got close enough to get a good look at their faces.

Until they were a few feet away from the entrance of the prison tower, that was.

A guard was running up to them. The group collectively tensed, but he was wearing a friendly smile on his face, Katara noted. She had better vision than most of them, being accustomed to wandering out in darkness with only the full moon and because of her waterbender status, but even she knew that if she was close enough to see the guard's face, it wouldn't be long enough before the guard was close enough to see theirs.

'Hey, where's the fourth member of your group?' the guard asked, trying to sound stern, but his voice betrayed the natural cheerful cadence of his voice that Katara supposed must be ingrained. Her hands twitched, ready to attack.

He spoke again when no one responded, this time slightly less cheerfully. 'Don't you know that all guards have to travel in groups of four after the new prisoners arrived?'

'New prisoners?' enquired Zuko neutrally.

'Yeah,' said the guard, glad to be getting a response. 'You know, Fire Lord Azula's old companions- Mai and Ty Lee, I think they were called. They're very pretty, and so young, too! I used to see them at the palace all the time. I don't know what happened for them to be executed as traitors, but I guess we're about to find out soon at the national holiday, I guess. It's such a shame, though, two noblemen's daughters being put to death like that, even if some of us do get a day off to watch the ceremony at Sozin Memorial Park.'

'Are you always this chatty?' said Zuko, betraying a hint of feigned annoyance. 'We didn't get the memo of the change of the number of people in groups, I'm afraid. We'll alert the captain of the squad and ask for him to assign us a new member. Until then, I suggest you'd better go on to your own group and _do your job_ instead of standing around chatting,' he finished icily.

The guard's mouth twisted into a scowl. 'Well, there's no need to be like that,' he huffed, and scrambled away to join the group he'd broken away from.

They waited five seconds before letting out a relieved exhale. 'That was amazing, Zuko,' praised Katara. 'How did you know what to say?'

'I didn't grow up in the royal palace to have no knowledge of how to speak to guards,' grinned Zuko. 'Come on, let's go.'

He raised an arm and signalled for them to go down the stairs that led into a stone expanse of courtyard. The other guards did nothing more than glance briefly at them, and didn't spot Toph at all, who was still staying hidden in the shadows. How she managed to know where to step was a miracle in itself, thought Katara, because as far as she knew, Toph couldn't sense the placement of shadows. But maybe she just saw the landscape with her feet and decided from the crevices and small hidden spots that those were the places where shadows were most likely to be.

They reached the mouth of the tower without incident. They waited until Toph slipped inside, providing coverage for her with their bodies, before heading in themselves. Inside was a spiralling staircase that led steeply upwards. Zuko swallowed and tried to banish the bad memories of this place, where he'd visited his uncle so many times. 'Come on, we have to be fast,' he said, and ran up the stairs. Everyone else quickly followed suit.

They reached the first floor. Apart from a few criminals, maybe dirt-poor thieves who did something to upset some high-ranking officials who declared them treasonous and who would probably be executed quietly, Zuko estimated, there was no one of importance. He shook his head and signalled for them to head up to the second floor.

As he stopped on the middle of the staircase, panting, and put his hands on his knees, bending over to catch his breath, he saw a pair of familiar, scarlet curled-toed shoes step in front of him.

Katara's growl and Suki's snarl had confirmed the identity of this person before Zuko even had to look up- not that he needed much confirmation, himself. He'd recognize those shoes anywhere.

Azula's smirk sent chills through him. 'Hello, dear brother,' she said casually.

'What are you doing here, Azula?' Zuko challenged fiercely, drawing his swords out.

Azula raised her eyebrows. 'I'm helping you, dum-dum,' she snarled, her voice losing its feigned niceness. 'Come on. I know where Ty Lee and Mai are.'

'Wait!' said Katara, grasping Zuko's wrist. 'Can we really trust her?'

Azula sighed loudly and exasperatedly. 'I'm on your side, you filthy little water peasant. Hurry up and follow me, because you don't have much time.'

'You could kill us!' snapped Katara. 'We could be walking right into a trap!'

'Believe me,' Azula drawled, examining her perfectly manicured nails carelessly, 'if I wanted you dead, you would be. Lucky for you, I don't, so let's get moving.'

Zuko looked torn. His eyes kept snapping towards Azula, then back to Katara. 'I...' he trailed off helplessly. 'I don't...'

Azula rolled her eyes. 'I'll make this easier,' she snapped, and hoisted Zuko up on her shoulder and took off running up the staircase.

Zuko exclaimed in panic, arms flailing comically, but they were moving too fast for him to escape Azula's firm clutches. Toph groaned and ran up after them; Katara and Suki were already hot on Azula's heels. 'Let him go!' huffed Katara.

Azula was undeterred. 'Believe me, I don't like this arrangement any more than you do,' she said, her heart pounding at the exertion, but determined not to let a note of exhaustion slip out. Agni, her brother was heavy, especially clad in full armour. But she could manage. She always did.

Finally, when they reached the last floor, Azula dumped Zuko unceremoniously on the floor. He landed with a thud. 'This is where the highest security prisoners are kept,' said Azula. 'I asked.'

'Then wouldn't this place be teeming with guards-' started Katara, but she got her answer in a matter of seconds.

Azula struck at a guard with a throwing star to the jugular. He collapsed in a second. 'Yes, it is,' said Azula casually. 'And I'm in plain sight, so whoever sees me is not making it out of here alive. I can't have them spreading rumours that their Fire Lord is a traitor to their nation.'

Zuko looked at her with something like awe and disgust mingled together in his eyes. 'I never thought you'd willingly become a traitor,' he breathed.

Azula surveyed him coldly. 'I will become whatever it takes,' she said slowly, 'to get what I want.'

And she sprung into action.

Azula was like a one-woman army. Katara watched in petrified amazement as she took out guards ten at a time, leaving none alive. Suki was beginning to feel a grudging respect for Azula- she might not like the princess personally, but damn, could she fight. Toph could sense when every soldier collapsed to the floor, and had she not been able to feel it with her own feet, she would have scoffed in disbelief if someone tried to tell her just how fast Azula could strike. For the spirits' sake, Azula wasn't even _bending_\- she was just using her knives to slit everyone's throats. And as grotesque as it was, it was brutally glorious.

'Why aren't you using your lightning?' demanded Zuko.

Azula looked at him distastefully, not even deigning to glance in the other direction as she flicked another throwing star at an approaching guard. 'I'm one of the only people who's known to bend lightning,' she said slowly, as if Zuko were dumb. 'And I'm not stupid enough to make myself a suspect by leaving charred corpses.'

Katara had to feel sorry for the guards. None of them were expecting their Fire Lord to attack them, and so there was that brief moment of disbelief and hesitation before they started scrambling for their weapons- but that moment was all Azula needed to take them out of action. After all the guards were taken out, Azula ran past them to the cell at the very end of the hallway. Zuko, Suki, Toph and Katara followed her after a moment's hesitation.

Sure enough, Mai and Ty Lee were there. The prisoners's eyes widened in disbelief at the group in front of them. 'Azula!' exclaimed Ty Lee. 'I knew you'd come!'

To Zuko's amazement, when he looked over, his sister was actually blushing. But when she spoke, her voice was as cold as ever. 'How? I threw you in prison,' she reminded icily.

Ty Lee's smile didn't falter- Zuko had to give her credit for that. 'I just knew,' the acrobat shrugged, and the faint smile on Zuko's face inched up into a smirk as Azula looked away and tried to stammer out something in response to that. He had never seen his sister flustered before, and he was starting to enjoy it.

But then the girl next to Ty Lee spoke. 'Zuko,' said Mai softly, and for a moment Zuko's heart lifted and fluttered like a butterfly in his chest, sure Mai was going to say something heartfelt that would make the nearly two months apart feel like two seconds- 'You look like shit.'

The hopeful smile on Zuko's face dropped. 'Thanks,' he muttered. 'I could say the same about you.'

Mai scowled. 'I've been in prison for a month and a half because I saved your sorry ass,' she retorted. 'What's your excuse?'

Zuko was about to open his mouth to retort, but Azula stepped in between them. 'As much as I'd love to see these two lovebirds fight, we have a job to do. You- earthbender girl, you can bend metal, can't you?'

Toph nodded, scowling. 'Yeah. How'd you hear about that?'

Azula shrugged. 'I have my sources. Everyone knows about the Beifong's little runaway daughter after your parents hired those thugs to find you. I, for one, think it's very impressive how you managed to metalbend your way out of being kidnapped.'

Zuko's eyes narrowed, waiting for the insult, and felt a jolt in his stomach to see Mai doing the same. They locked eyes, knowing exactly what the other was thinking, and Zuko couldn't keep the small smile off his face.

'Uh, thanks,' said Toph tentatively, not knowing whether or not it was a good idea to accept the compliment.

'Although,' continued Azula blithely, 'I suppose if you were really good, you wouldn't have gotten yourself kidnapped at all.'

_There it is,_ thought Zuko, amused despite himself. _There's the insult._ He locked eyes with Mai again, sharing knowing twin smiles.

The scowl on Toph's face grew more prominent. 'Ugh, let's just get out of here,' she snapped, and put her hands on the bars. She yanked them aside so easily that even Azula was grudgingly impressed.

Mai and Ty Lee stepped through the gaping hole in the bars. 'That was so cool,' breathed Ty Lee, and leapt straight into Azula's arms.

Everyone stared at her in shock. 'Azula's going to incinerate her!' said Katara worriedly, but Mai only flashed her a knowing smirk.

'No, she's not,' said Mai smugly, as if she knew something they didn't. Which, well, she probably did.

They all watched in shock and amazement as Ty Lee hugged Azula so tightly it seemed as if the air was being squeezed out of the Fire Lord's lungs. Every passing second, Azula managed to look more uncomfortable than before, until Zuko and Mai couldn't help but snicker at her reddened face. And then slowly, slowly, Azula tentatively placed her arms around Ty Lee and patted her back awkwardly.

'Holy shit,' snickered Mai. 'Nobody talk. I want to freeze this moment forever. This is absolute _gold.'_

'I didn't even know Azula was capable of affection,' remarked Zuko.

'Oh, she is,' Mai reassured him. 'But she's only hugged me once in my life, and that was when we met at Omas- I mean, New Ozai, and then it was only because she wanted something.'

'Well,' Zuko said finally, clearing his throat, 'I hate to interrupt you guys, but we're got to get a move on.'

Azula drew back hastily, the relief in her eyes evident. Zuko almost wanted to laugh at her distress, but contained himself.

'So what's the plan?' asked Mai.

'Uhh...' Zuko trailed off, looking at Suki, Katara and Toph helplessly.

Both Azula and Mai sighed in the exact same exasperated tone. Their eyes widened in surprise before they looked at each other, a small smirk playing on both their lips. 'Let me guess,' Mai drawled, and waited for Azula to finish.

'You don't have a plan, do you?' completed Azula.

'You guys are finishing each other's sentences again!' exclaimed Ty Lee delightedly, clapping her hands. 'Does this mean you've made up?'

Azula and Mai's eyes narrowed at each other. 'No,' they said in the exact same flat tone.

Ty Lee just rolled her eyes. 'That's okay, we've had plenty of fights before,' she dismissed.

Azula turned to look at her, amazed at how thick Ty Lee could be sometimes. 'This isn't the kind of fight where Mai stole my favourite pair of shoes, Ty Lee!' she snapped. 'You two betrayed me at the Boiling Rock! The only reason you're being rescued right now is because I need you to help me overthrow my father!'

As soon as she said the words, a wave of shock rippled through her chest. This was only the second time Azula had said that out loud to anyone- the first being to Zuko back on Kyoshi Island- and that hadn't really counted. It had seemed like a child's plan back then, a lofty, impossible dream that she'd confided to a powerless person who no one would have believed even if he'd told them. But now that she was divulging it to her potential allies and the people she'd freed out of prison to help put her plan into action, it felt real. Tangible. And judging by the stunned looks on everyone else's faces, Azula judged that that was not what they thought they were going to hear.

'You're going... to overthrow... your father?' Katara struggled to get out.

'Yes,' snapped Azula curtly.

'Wow,' Ty Lee said enthusiastically. 'Count me in. It'll be just like old times, won't it, Mai?'

'You're in whether you like it or not,' said Azula, but she struggled to suppress a smile at Ty Lee so easily being on her side again. 'After you help me, you'll be free to go wherever you want. Consider this payment for me breaking you out of prison.'

Ty Lee pouted, mischief gleaming in her eyes. 'What if we want to stay with you?'

Azula blinked. 'Um...' The flush had returned to her cheeks. 'Um... then I...'

Zuko tried and failed to suppress a snort. Azula glared at him, and he immediately sobered up. 'It's just, I'm just not used to people saying they would willingly be around you,' he explained, trying and failing to keep a straight face. 'This is going to take some time to process. Sorry.'

'Oh, you will be,' snapped Azula, levelling another icy glare at him. 'Unless any of you have a better plan, follow me and let's get out of here.'

And she took off running down the hallway and down the spiral stairs, followed quickly by the rest of the group. She felt a light hand on her arm, and looked to her right to see Ty Lee. 'Hey,' Ty Lee grinned.

Azula looked away. 'Hey.'

'So where are we going, exactly?' Ty Lee pressed.

'You'll be staying with the Avatar and his companions,' Azula answered shortly. 'Isn't that right, Zuzu?' she called.

Zuko sighed. 'I guess,' he grumbled, at the same time Ty Lee exclaimed, 'The Avatar's alive?!'

'What's wrong?' smirked Mai. 'Are we not welcome?'

Zuko's eyes widened. 'No, no, it's nothing like that-'

Mai scoffed. 'Relax, I was just teasing. Really, Zuko, you need to lighten up.'

Zuko scowled and muttered something under his breath that sounded uncannily like _'girls.'_

Azula turned to Ty Lee. 'To answer your question, yes, he is,' she said. 'What is it they say?' she asked rhetorically. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And right now, the common enemy is my father, _Phoenix King Ozai.'_ Azula had a furious fire in her golden eyes that was both terrifying and mesmerizing to watch, enrapturing the whole group as she met their eyes, one by one. 'He rendered my destiny obsolete when he had the nerve to declare himself Phoenix King after declaring me as the new Fire Lord. I should've been the one to rule! But instead I have nothing, and he has the world spread before his feet. That's about to change, though,' she finished with a rather twisted grin on her face.

They reached the bottom of the stairs. 'Mai, you're better with knives than I am,' Azula admitted, as if the words pained her to say. She slid the throwing stars out from her sleeves and placed them in Mai's hands. 'Here.'

Mai's eyes glittered with pure delight. 'Thanks,' she said, and ran out of the tower. She flung the weapons out to strike the jugulars of the guards, one by one.

They never stood a chance.

'Damn,' Suki said. 'She's good.'

'No kidding,' breathed Toph. But it was Zuko who was the most captivated by his ex-girlfriend prodigious skill in knives.

They had no time to waste, however. After Mai had taken out all the guards in a fifty-metre radius, Azula quickly ushered them out.

'Run,' urged Azula. 'Run like the wind and don't stop until I tell you to.'

They needed no further encouragement.

Azula led them past the watchtower where Katara, Zuko, Toph and Suki had killed those guards, and into the palace. Mai wasted no time in killing the guards who stood watch, and they blindly followed Azula's lead until she stopped at a wall.

'Why are we stopping?' demanded Katara.

Ty Lee's face lit up in understanding. 'The secret passages!'

Azula grinned. 'Yeah,' she said, smiling at Ty Lee, who beamed even more. Azula's fingers quickly found the familiar grooves in the wall and she pulled the hidden door open to usher the group inside quickly.

'Wow,' said Toph, as soon as they were safely in with the door closed. 'I can feel a patchwork maze of tunnels in the palace. This is so awesome! And- I can see that one leads to where we snuck in, a side entrance nearest to the cave we've been hiding out in!'

Azula stepped aside. 'Alright, then. I was going to take you to the front of the palace, but if there's another way, by all means, take the lead.'

'Gladly,' said Toph, and started running.

The rest of the group followed her through a maze of tunnels, before she finally stopped at one entrance. Azula pushed it open and checked to see if any guards were there. There was no one. 'All clear,' said Azula, signalling for everyone else to follow her. As soon as everyone was out, she slammed the door shut. It faded into the wall, camouflaged, once again.

'Oh,' said Mai, realizing where they were. 'You guys went through the west side entrance. Azula always used to sneak out of there to go and see us when her father wouldn't let her stop training.'

Zuko turned to his little sister in amazement. 'You did that?'

Azula shrugged nonchalantly. 'Maybe.'

The side entrance had a high, barbed gate that was nearly impossible to go over. 'Okay, I admit, Aang would have been useful on this mission,' sighed Katara. 'How are we going to get over that without an airbender? There's no way we can just pass through- there are two watchtowers and guards are swarming the perimeter.'

'Well, how did you guys get in, then?' asked Ty Lee curiously.

'We just knocked a few guards out and then scaled the wall connecting the palace and the prison tower,' Suki answered. 'We never went through the palace. And when we got here, we did originally plan to go through the main entrance, but it was a stroke of luck that the gates of the side entrance were open. Some cargo was being delivered. But now they're closed, and the place is teeming with guards- we must have been discovered.'

As if Suki's prediction was coming true, a guard called out to his fellow soldiers- 'Secure the prison tower! Some guards were found dead there. We don't know if there's been an escape yet, but all the evidence is pointing that way.'

Mai swore. 'Great. They must have found the bodies while we were running away. What are we going to do now?'

Toph grinned. 'I think you guys are forgetting you have an earthbender on your team,' she said. 'I can create a tunnel for us to escape out of. But you guys will need to create a distraction first.'

Azula smirked. 'No problem. I'll do it. I'm not going with you guys anyway, so I guess this is the last I'll see of you until... Agni knows when.'

As she said the words, her chest deflated a little. She wasn't even sure why herself until Ty Lee spoke, grey eyes glistening with unshed tears. 'C'mon, 'Zula, you're not leaving again, are you?' Ty Lee joked softly, taking Azula's wrists into her hands, which caused Azula's heartbeat to thunder in her ears for some reason.

Azula averted her eyes. 'I'm sorry,' she said stiffly, 'but I have to. It's the only way to get you out. Just... justpromisemeyou'llstaysafe.' She said the last sentence so quickly and so quietly that no one else could really hear it except Ty Lee, but that was alright. It hadn't really been meant for anyone else, anyway.

Tears overflowed out of Ty Lee's brown doe eyes. 'Agni, why do you always do this to me? I'm so going to regret this later,' she said, sucking in a breath, and before Azula could process what was going on, she kissed her full on the lips.

Azula's eyes widened, before melting into Ty Lee's arms around her.

Zuko was coughing. Badly. Mai thumped him on the back, hard, before he could regain himself, but she was still in shock herself. Katara's jaw had dropped open and even Suki's eyes were looking like they were going to pop out of their sockets. Only Toph groaned. 'Can we get a move on, now, lovebirds?' she said, miming vomiting.

Azula pulled away first, as she always did. 'I...' she trailed off, not being able to stomach the heartbroken look in Ty Lee's eyes. 'Um... bye,' she stammered hastily, and ran off.

Ty Lee watched her go with a stunned feeling in her chest and tears glimmering in her eyes. She turned to face Mai with a heartbreakingly confused expression. 'What did I just do?' she gasped to no one in particular. 'I didn't even ask her if it was alright! She's going to hate me forever, I just know it!'

'Azula hates everyone anyway,' snorted Zuko.

Ty Lee hid her red face in her hands and groaned. Mai glared at Zuko. 'Not helping,' she hissed through gritted teeth. Zuko put his hands up in mock surrender. Mai turned away, swallowing her discomfort and went to put an awkward arm around her best friend. 'Come on,' she said, more gently than anyone who knew Mai would've thought she could speak. 'Let's go. Toph, can you make a tunnel?'

Toph had adapted a tense stance. 'Not yet,' she said, moving her left foot backwards.

Azula's commanding voice echoed throughout the cold night air. 'Guards! I saw something at the main entrance! We must head over there immediately!'

Toph grinned. 'Now,' she declared, feeling the soldiers' footsteps pound into the earth, running away from the east side entrance. She put her arms up, and as they flew to above her head, the ground beneath them cleared away to form a small tunnel- just small enough for them to fit into if they crouched. But it was narrow, too, and Suki quickly realized that their armour would slow them down greatly.

'Katara, Zuko,' the Kyoshi Warrior commanded. 'Take off your armour now- you'll never be able to squeeze through the sides wearing it.'

Katara and Zuko obediently stripped their armour off. Mai's eyes flickered to Zuko's torso appraisingly. Zuko almost blushed, but then remembered that they were broken up. Weren't they?

'Toph,' Zuko said, focusing his attention elsewhere, 'can't you make the tunnel a bit bigger?'

'No,' retorted Toph sharply. 'I mean, I could, but that would take time, and we don't have nearly enough as it is. C'mon, Sparky. Let's go.'

Zuko sighed and followed Toph. 'Um, Mai, you should probably head the rear,' he said uncomfortably. 'You're the one with the knives.'

Mai turned bright red at Zuko addressing her directly. 'Uh, sure,' she said awkwardly, and did finger guns at him.

Zuko raised his eyebrows before heading into the tunnel.

Mai turned to Ty Lee with a helplessly panicked expression on her face. 'Why did I do finger guns at him?' she groaned.

Ty Lee only laughed at her. 'Now you know how it feels to be embarrassed.'

'I thought you were supposed to be the nice one of all of us,' grumbled Mai, dutifully being the last to head into the tunnel. As soon as she crawled in, she gagged. It was smelly and gross and she was almost definitely certain that a billion bugs were crawling around them, judging by the fact that her palms and feet crunched every time she put them down. 'By the gods, I'm going to throw up,' she said, breathing shallowly.

'It's not that bad,' said Katara weakly, but even she was fighting the urge to throw up.

'When we get out of here, I am going to murder that little earthbender girl for making me do this,' breathed Mai venomously. 'No, scratch that. I'm going to murder her, and then I'm going to murder Azula for agreeing to this, and then I'm going to tie you up and murder you all one by one so you can watch your friends die right before your eyes.'

Katara fought back a shudder. 'That's descriptive. I think a thank-you would be more appropriate, though. You know, for saving your sorry behinds.'

'We didn't ask for you to save us,' muttered Mai bitterly. 'Honestly, I think I'd rather take the execution over this.' She winced, horrified, fighting the bile rising in her throat as she squashed another bug beneath her palm. 'Oh, Agni, that one felt _warm._ Ugh, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse. _Fuck_ me. I am going to die in here, and my spirit is going to stay here and haunt all of you until you die a horrible, horrible death, and only then will I be finally happy.'

'But _I'm_ very grateful you saved us, Katara!' piped up Ty Lee. 'Even if there was probably a better way to get out than this horrible tunnel.'

'Okay, since you all hate the tunnel so much, why don't I just collapse it on all of you?' yelled Toph from the front.

'If you do that, I will hunt you down, and I will find you, and I will slowly strip the skin from your flesh and the eyeballs from your eye sockets as you scream in agony, and do not for one second think that I will hesitate to put your dismembered body in a bag and send it via messenger hawk to your parents' doorstep,' threatened Mai between clenched teeth, beads of sweat rolling off of her forehead.

'I'd like to see you try,' scoffed Toph.

'So, you and Zuko used to date?' said Katara, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Both Mai and Zuko froze. 'I don't know about Zuko, but I've been much happier pretending that that never happened,' said Mai smoothly.

Zuko nearly turned around, but his head hit the narrow walls and he forced himself to keep crawling, a raging fire in his eyes. 'You're insufferable, you know that?' he snapped. 'We rescued you, and yet the first thing you tell me is an insult! And the entire time we were dating, I can count on my fingers the number of times you smiled- as if I wasn't good enough for you!'

Mai's humourless laughter rang through the dirt walls. 'You think you were? That's hilarious.'

Smoke was beginning to rise from Zuko's fists. It wafted past everyone's noses, making them tense in fright. 'Zuko,' Toph said warningly, 'I swear to Agni, if you light a fire in this tunnel I will bury you where no one will ever find your body.'

The smoke subsided just as they glimpsed a glimmer of light at the end of the long tunnel. 'Oh, thank Agni,' cried out Mai. 'We're finally getting out of here.'

'It was barely two minutes!' exclaimed Suki.

'Two minutes too long,' countered Mai.

One by one, they clambered out of the tunnel. They were a few metres from the gate, but not far enough to escape the piercing white light that emitted in beams from the watchtowers. 'Run!' Katara yelled, and nobody needed to be told twice. They tore through the streets, with Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee at the head of the group, being the ones who'd grown up here.

'We should go this way,' said Mai.

'No, this way was where we came from,' said Zuko. Mai swore and followed him, with the rest of the group hot at their heels.

'Lockdown!' shouted an authoritative voice that seemed to be coming towards them. 'The city of Caldera is under lockdown! Citizens are not to leave their houses! Anyone who leaves will be penalized!'

'Fuck me,' hissed Mai. 'Your way sucks,' she told Zuko bluntly. 'Everyone follow me- this is the quickest way out of the volcano.'

Zuko glared at Mai's back, but if she noticed, she didn't let it show. She led the group up a flight of stairs that led up out of the mouth of the volcano, and then back down the side. 'Follow me!' said Mai, and ran up the stairs with such astounding speed that Zuko couldn't help be taken aback. He followed her after a moment, as did the rest of the group. They reached the top quickly, and headed down the side of the volcano.

'I've got a quicker way than going down some stupid stairs,' grinned Toph. 'Stay where you are, everybody!'

Everyone froze as Toph tore the chunk of stairs they were standing on out of the ground, and sent it crashing downwards at ten times the speed they would've achieved had they ran. 'Toph!' shrieked Katara hysterically. 'Are you sure you know what you're doing?!'

'It's a bit too late to stop now,' grinned Toph as the cold wind whirled around them, stinging their faces.

'I swear to Agni, if you get us all killed-' began Mai.

'Relax, prissy,' yawned Toph. 'You'll be perfectly fine.'

They reached the bottom in a matter of seconds. Nearly all of the group thudded to the floor, unprepared for the sudden halt, except Toph, who looked as cool and casual as ever. The moment they hit the ground, they started running, though. Toph had to admire them for that.

They ran for almost half an hour, it seemed, before stopping at the mouth of a small cave that was so covered by vines that it seemed perfectly camouflaged. Zuko quickly pushed open the vines and went into the cave, followed closely by the rest of the group.

Sokka and Aang's faces lit up once they saw Zuko, Suki, Toph and Katara. Sokka rushed to hug Katara immediately. 'You're okay!' he exclaimed.

Katara grinned. 'I always am. We did have to climb through a tunnel filled with gross bugs, though. Trust me, you did not want to be there.'

Toph groaned dramatically. 'Will you guys stop complaining about the tunnel? If you had a better idea about how we could've gotten out of there, you didn't say it!'

Katara rolled her eyes and hugged Aang, while Sokka hugged Suki. Mai and Ty Lee stood awkwardly to the side and watched the festivities.

'He's still cute,' remarked Ty Lee to Mai, her gaze fixed on Sokka.

Unfortunately, Suki heard, and slid an arm around Sokka's shoulders, fixing Ty Lee with a level glare. 'And he's taken,' she said protectively.

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. 'Relax. You just saw me kiss someone half an hour ago. I'm not interested in your Water Tribe boyfriend, I just think he's hot.'

'Now, now, ladies, there's no need to be fighting over me,' said Sokka smugly. Both Suki and Ty Lee rolled their eyes and turned away from him, much to Sokka's dismay. 'What? What did I do?'

'Ugh,' Suki and Ty Lee groaned at the same time. Surprised, they locked eyes and smiled awkwardly.

'Boys, am I right?' said Ty Lee.

'Yeah,' agreed Suki, flashing Ty Lee a grin.

Sokka watched the whole exchange, helplessly confused.

Aang patted Sokka on the back in bewilderment. 'Girls,' he said.

Zuko joined them. 'You are too right,' he said, his gaze focused on Mai.

Katara raised a pan that Suki'd nabbed from a stall, and some vegetables. 'Who wants dinner?' she called out jovially.

The mood in the air seemed to lighten considerably. 'Me!' yelled Sokka, scrambling to sit down next to the fire, making everyone laugh.

The smell of herbs and mushrooms was enough to keep the mood light until they went to bed with full stomachs and smiles on their faces. Katara had spent enough time around Sokka and Aang to know that good food would do that to people, and smiled privately to herself. So far, things were... looking up.

* * *

Meanwhile, Azula stood in front of a group of elite soldiers wearing Earth Kingdom clothing. 'Dai Li,' she addressed. 'Your banishment has been revoked. However, I think a name change is in order, considering that you won't be working with just your own earthbenders anymore.'

She suppressed a smirk, and signalled for the rest of the soldiers in Fire Nation clothing to come in. 'Dai Li, meet my personal army,' Azula said grandly. 'The Blue Dragon Society. Which you will be joining, if you know what's good for you.'

The soldiers prostrated themselves before her. Azula's smirk grew wider. 'You are an army that is loyal to me,' she said. 'Not my father, not my worthless brother, not even the Fire Nation itself. Me, and me alone. Do you understand?'

The soldiers nodded in unison.

Azula's smirk grew into an ugly, twisted thing that struck fear into the hearts of the soldiers before her. Her golden eyes flashed dangerously. 'What I am about to say does not leave this room,' she hissed, loud enough for everyone to hear. 'I am planning to overthrow my father, Phoenix King Ozai, and you will be rewarded greatly after I do. But if I sense any disloyalty, any doubt, any hesitation at all, I will not hesitate to snuff it out. If any of you betray me, I assure you, the consequences will be far worse than you could ever imagine.'

She stopped, and regally regarded the soldiers shaking in front of her. She smiled. 'If you betray me, I will not stop at you. I will torture you until you are begging on your knees- if you will even have knees once I'm done with you- for me to kill you, but I will not stop at you. I will obliterate your entire families. I will wipe your bloodline out until you will have no one left to return home to, and you will look at their corpses and know that it is your fault.'

They were shaking uncontrollably.

'But if you are loyal to me, you will have everything you have ever dreamt of,' continued Azula. 'Are you ready to join the Blue Dragon Society, then?'

The Dai Li stood up and saluted her. 'Yes, Fire Lord Azula,' they said.

A slow smile spread across Azula's face. 'Good.'


	5. chapter five

'Your technique is pretty good,' complimented Zuko awkwardly.

Mai didn't look his way. She just threw another knife to the tree in front of her, painted bright red with targets. 'I know,' she said. Her technique was perfect, actually, but she didn't expect Zuko to know that.

Zuko sighed exasperatedly. 'Can't you just take a compliment for once in your life?'

Mai stepped out of her stance and looked at him, raising her eyebrows and barely refraining from rolling her eyes. 'I did. What do you want me to say, a 'thank you' for telling me something I already know?'

Zuko threw his hands up in frustration. 'Ugh! This is why this-' he gestured between them- 'didn't work out for us!'

'Yeah, no shit,' drawled Mai, resuming throwing her knives once again.

But Zuko wouldn't budge. He folded his arms over his chest and glared at her. 'Where did you get those knives anyway?' he inquired. 'They aren't the throwing stars Azula gave you.'

'What are you, the police?' scoffed Mai. 'I nicked them from the market with Suki when we went to pick up groceries.'

Catching Zuko's shocked expression out of the corner of her eye, she sighed. 'Oh, don't look so scandalized,' she said dismissively, chucking another knife at exactly the point of the tree where one thick branch split off into two. 'I'm a criminal, remember?' she drawled patronizingly. 'A traitor to the Nation. I was _literally_ about to be put to death by execution on a national holiday your father was planning to make especially to celebrate my death, and not stealing a few knives wasn't going to change my sentence. I can do whatever I want, because there isn't much of a punishment worse than that.'

'If you really knew my father, you'd know that death is merciful,' said Zuko quietly, in that slightly raspy voice of his.

Mai bit her lip and turned away, unwilling to show Zuko the emotional turmoil flickering on her face, knowing exactly what he was referring to. But did he really think that the things his father had put both him and Azula through was worse than death? She remembered his agonized scream as his father had seared the flesh off of his face, and stiffened slightly. 'Well, then, I guess I don't,' she said, her voice hard as rocks. 'And I'm glad for that.'

She threw another knife with far too much force at a nearby tree as she listened to Zuko's defeated footsteps fading away.

A small sound, almost like a yelp, reached her ears, coming from behind the tree she had struck. Mai narrowed her eyes and slid another throwing knife from her sleeve into her hand. 'Who's there?' she called, striding further into the small cluster of trees.

But there was no one. _Maybe I'm just hearing things,_ she thought, but she couldn't dismiss the odd feeling nonetheless.

Then fast-paced, light footsteps, like someone was running away and trying not to be heard, echoed through the forest. They were good at concealing their sound, but Mai was better. 'Show yourself!' she yelled, throwing a knife blindly at the general direction the sound was coming from. It thunked into a nearby branch. The sound of the footsteps faded away.

_It was probably just a scared animal,_ Mai reassured herself. _Who would come up here, anyway? It's not like anyone was following us here from the market- no one knows who Suki is and I was completely disguised, just in case._

She yanked the knife out of the tree branch and practiced her aim again, hitting target after target and trying to soothe the unsettling feeling brewing in her stomach. A few minutes passed until she heard the sound of oddly familiar, light, predatory footsteps behind her- nothing like the ones she'd just heard. Mai's eyes widened, and she whirled around, ready to throw the knife instinctively.

But it wasn't who she thought it was. Instead, it was just Ty Lee, clad in simple peasant Fire Nation clothes that she'd borrowed from Suki, who in turn had 'borrowed' them from the market. 'What's up?' asked Ty Lee, concerned. 'You look like you've just seen a ghost.'

Mai lowered her knife. 'I thought you were Azula,' she answered honestly, seeing no point in lying. 'Your footsteps sound the same.'

'Oh...' Ty Lee blushed. 'Yeah, well...' she trailed off, clearing her throat. 'Um, anyway. I came to train. Being stuck in prison so long really does a number on your skills, huh, Mai?'

Mai hit another impossibly small target with astounding precision and then looked at Ty Lee, cocking her head to the side almost as if it were a challenge. 'No,' she said casually. 'Not really.'

Ty Lee's mouth dropped into a smirk. It was unnerving, thought Mai, seeing that expression that was so _Azula-like_ on Ty Lee's face. But maybe they were more similar than she'd thought. 'Well, how would you know unless you tried it for real?' asked Ty Lee innocently. 'You haven't tried hitting any moving targets yet. I've been watching you.'

Mai's eyes narrowed. 'What are you suggesting?' she asked slowly.

Ty Lee smiled. 'Try and hit me.'

Mai snorted derisively. 'Why would I do that? You'd never survive the first few five seconds, and that's if you're _lucky.'_

'Really? Because I think you're just scared,' said Ty Lee cheerfully, touching Mai's nose lightly, almost as if she was mocking her.

'You can't get a rise out of me,' said Mai, rolling her eyes. She couldn't help but feel slightly amused at the pathetic attempt, even if the corners of her mouth stayed firmly downwards. 'I'm not Zuko or Azula. I don't care what you think. Now leave me alone, I need to practice.'

As soon as Mai threw the knife, Ty Lee jumped in front of the tree Mai had been aiming for and caught the weapon in mid-air with superhuman reflexes. She tucked into a somersault and emerged with her feet firmly planted on the grassy floor, her back perfectly straight and a glittering knife twirling between her fingers. A confident smile graced her painted pink lips. 'We can do this the hard way,' said Ty Lee, 'or the easy way. Your choice. But I'm practicing with you no matter what you do.'

Mai's mouth twisted into a snarl, trying and failing to tamp her rising anger at being interrupted. This was a training session, for Agni's sake! It was supposed to be her alone time, when she could finally get out of listening to those stupid stories Sokka and Katara liked to tell at the campfire about friendship and love and rainbows and all that sickening stuff. She flicked a knife out of her sleeve, ready to get this over with. 'I'll show you the hard way,' she growled, and flung it at Ty Lee.

A crowd had gathered to watch, to Ty Lee's delight and Mai's annoyance. Aang, Suki, Katara and Sokka were standing behind Mai, slack-jawed as they watched Ty Lee gracefully duck, twist and flip out of the way of danger, just barely defying death with every split second she stood too long in one place. Her feet were barely touching the floor as it was, though- she was leaping from tree branch to tree branch, swinging and cartwheeling through the tangle of emerald green leaves and vines that served as protection from Mai's glittering assortment of weapons that she hurled with no mercy, no regard, no thought other than to sink into flesh at Ty Lee. To untrained eyes, Ty Lee was just a dancing pink blur moving gracefully through the trees at an impossibly incredible speed. To Mai, she was a target. She was prey. And Mai always caught her prey.

Mai caught ahold of her rising irritation and calmed herself, breathing in deeply. She would not be like her emotionally challenged ex-boyfriend, the epitome of teenage angst, and let her emotions win out over rational thinking. No, she wouldn't. The absence of common sense in favour of passion could only lead to stupid decisions being made that in turn, lead to stupid things being done. She had one last knife up her sleeve, literally. She knew that if she hurt Ty Lee, they'd have to get medicine and herbs and bandages for her, and they'd lose a valuable warrior. Not to mention, she'd have to put up with Ty Lee's incessant, miserable complaints until she got better, and if Mai had to endure another Ty Lee crying session, she was a hundred percent sure that she would literally combust.

_What would Azula do?_ Mai found herself thinking, before catching herself and remembering that that was a stupid question bound to have a stupid answer. Azula did not let her emotions show outwardly- she put up a scarily calm demeanour that was bound to be the thing responsible for all her pent-up anger management issues. But Azula... Azula would teach Ty Lee a lesson. A lesson that ensured Ty Lee would never interrupt Mai's training sessions again.

Mai threw the knife at Ty Lee's braid and cut it in half.

Ty Lee immediately stopped cartwheeling. She stared at the braid on the floor in horror, and looked up at Mai accusingly. 'How could you?!' she demanded, snatching up the braid and stalking angrily up to Mai. Tears were gathering in her large grey eyes, threatening to spill over.

'Would you rather I had landed the knife in your arm?' asked Mai dryly, unable to keep the tiniest, smugly satisfied note out of her voice.

'No-but I just- I just-' Ty Lee let out a half-sigh, half-sob, staring at the braid in her hands. 'Ugh, now I look ugly!'

'No you don't! You look fine!' Katara reassured, running up to Ty Lee and putting an arm around her shoulders. She was flanked by Aang and Sokka, who annoyed Mai to no end in the fact that they seemingly couldn't keep their noses out of other people's business. Typical. Mai rolled her eyes at how sickeningly _sympathetic_ Katara was to someone who had tried to kill her on multiple occasions. Both Katara and Ty Lee made Mai feel like she was going to throw up- of fucking _course_ the universe would put them together and make them get along like a house on fire.

Ty Lee sniffed. 'Thanks, Katara.'

'Ugh, don't sound so pathetic,' groaned Mai, rolling her eyes to the sky. 'You got what was coming to you for interrupting my training session. And besides, we need to disguise ourselves anyway, to get out of the Fire Nation.'

Ty Lee froze. 'Wait, what?'

'Wait, what?' exclaimed Sokka.

'We're getting out of the Fire Nation?' asked Aang.

'We're _staying_ in the Fire Nation?' demanded Suki.

'What?!' exclaimed Katara. 'I thought we'd be in and out! You know, rescue Azula's evil henchmen- no offence, guys-'

'I literally could not care less,' said Mai.

'But what about Azula?' Ty Lee exclaimed, looking positively distraught. She wrung her hands together despairingly. 'But- but she's all alone in the Fire Nation! She's planning to overthrow her father, you heard her! We're supposed to help her, aren't we? I mean, _you_ guys can't possibly want Phoenix King Ozai to reign supreme over the whole world! You guys literally fought for a year to try and stop him!'

Sokka wrinkled his nose. 'Don't _you_ want him to be the supreme ruler of the world, though? I mean,' he said, implementing a heavy amount of mockery in his tone, 'being loyal Fire Nation citizens and all.'

Ty Lee shook her head determinedly. 'Not if Azula doesn't,' she said staunchly, and even Mai was shocked to hear the sureness of her tone that largely brushed past Sokka's mockery. 'If she's... well, if she's made up her mind on going against her own father, who is _literally_ the most powerful person in the world right now, I know she has a plan to do it. I don't trust her on a lot of things anymore-' she lowered her eyes, as if ashamed that she wasn't the naïve girl she'd once been before she'd been thrown into prison- 'but I'm _not_ sticking with Phoenix King Ozai to end up on the side of a losing war. You guys don't understand Azula like I do. She always wins every game she plays, because she's the one who writes the rules. And while her enemy is following them, thinking that they're one step ahead of her, she breaks them all herself.'

'It's true,' admitted Mai grudgingly. 'The reason Azula wins everything she plays is because she makes the game her own. She wraps and twists it to fit into her own rules, and then she throws everything out the window and leaves her enemy totally clueless. Her best weapon isn't her firebending or her- well, her admittedly impressive martial arts training- it's her unpredictability.'

'But Phoenix King Ozai knows her the best,' interjected Aang. 'I mean, he's raised her. He can probably predict what she's going to do, right? Didn't she trust him once?'

Mai spluttered in surprise, trying and failing to hold back a laugh. Beside her, Ty Lee was giggling madly. 'Azula? Trusting someone?' choked out Mai, doubling over in a rare fit of laughter. 'Look, Avatar, I know you don't know Azula that well, but even you should know that she trusts no one- least of all her _father._ She's wanted the throne since she could talk. She knew enough to keep her mouth shut about how she operates in case she ever needed to go against him.'

Suki narrowed her eyes. 'Well, _you_ guys seem to know a lot on how she operates,' she said accusingly.

Ty Lee stiffened. 'Azula's different when she's around us,' she said, sharper than she intended. 'We don't pose a threat to her.'

'Yeah, you do,' Katara disagreed. 'You could probably take her down if you wanted to.'

Ty Lee blinked back the tears rising in her eyes. 'You don't understand! I mean, yes, I'm probably one of the only people who could physically beat her if I wanted to- but I didn't pose a threat because I _never_ wanted to! I never wanted to hurt her! I was forced into making that- that choice because it was the _only one I had,'_ she said bitterly, and Mai knew from her uncharacteristically quiet tone that Ty Lee was thinking about that day in the Boiling Rock. 'I thought I made the right choice, and... I guess it was the only way to get us all out alive, but now I have another chance to make things right again. And I'm not screwing it up. I'm not leaving Azula again. She doesn't trust me a bit anymore, and we-' she looked at Mai pleadingly, not even sure what she was trying to ask- 'we used to be the only people she trusted. And I liked that. And now she's all alone, and no one deserves to be alone! I can't abandon her again, Mai.'

Mai didn't know when Ty Lee had stopped addressing the group as a whole and started focusing only on her, but she nodded, albeit reluctantly. 'Yeah. I get it, Ty Lee, I do. I guess you're right... we should stay, for Azula.'

Sokka spluttered. 'Excuse you?! Who died and made you leader?'

Mai regarded him coolly. 'Don't be ridiculous, water peasant. You never had a leader in the first place.'

'I was!' exclaimed Sokka, eyes bulging. _'I_ was the leader!'

Mai yawned. 'Keep those jokes up and you might almost make me laugh.'

'It doesn't matter. _I_ was the leader,' interrupted Katara, ignoring the sceptical raise of Mai's eyebrow, 'and I say we should discuss this as a group. Right now.'

She marched towards the cave, not looking back.

'So is anyone going to tell her nobody's following her or...?' questioned Mai, but Aang had already broken off from the group to trail her like a lost puppy. Sokka and Suki followed shortly after. Mai huffed exasperatedly.

'What did we get ourselves into?' groaned Ty Lee, wiping sweat from her brow under the glaring sun. 'I just want things to go back to the way they used to be. Now we're fucking _criminals,_ and my maybe-girlfriend wants to commit fucking patricide and stage a coup to steal an entire nation, and she wants our help?!'

'Well, when you phrase it like that it does sound...'

'Mad? Crazy? Insane?' Ty Lee yelled, growing more hysterical by the minute.

'I was going to say pretty fucking badass, actually,' grinned Mai. 'I knew there was a reason I liked being friends with Azula. She might almost get us killed half the time, but at least she's not mind-numbingly _boring._ I can't say the same for any of the other stupid kids my parents forced me to play with.'

'There was that one time she dragged us to some political dinner though,' remembered Ty Lee, smiling slightly. 'That was pretty boring. I literally fell asleep at the table and I think Azula told me I drooled on my entrée, but I looked so stupid that she didn't wake me up.'

'There was _literally_ an assassination attempt on her life,' Mai reminded her. 'How could you forget that?'

Ty Lee looked at her disdainfully. 'You call that an attempt? That was a joke,' she snorted dismissively. 'I took that guy out in two seconds before the guards or even Azula could get to him. That hardly even ranks a two on the interesting scale.'

'I'm surprised you even saw him,' snickered Mai, rolling her eyes. 'You were so busy practically drooling over Azula half the time, and _then_ drooling all over the table. It's a miracle you were able to see the horrible fashion choices my mom made for her outfit, much less an assassin, no matter how subpar.'

Ty Lee wrinkled her nose. 'First of all, Azula looked amazing in that dress, so you can't blame me for staring,' she defended herself. 'And speaking about outfits, your mom's yellow sash _really_ did not match her green ceremonial robe. No offence, Mai, but what was she _thinking?_ Was she trying to do an impression of those backwater Earth Kingdom farmers, or what? Cause if she was trying to crush my soul wearing those ugly-as-sin robes, she succeeded.'

'Only you would get more heated over an outfit than an assassination attempt,' quipped Mai dryly, amused despite herself. Although they had spent the last month and a half in close quarters, Ty Lee had been in a horribly depressed mood and hadn't even had the energy to joke. Not that Mai blamed her, honestly. Prison would do that to even the most optimistic person, but Mai found herself missing her best friend's bright and bubbly personality, although she'd never admit it to herself. She was just glad that Ty Lee finally seemed to be in a good mood again. _We'll see how long that lasts, though,_ Mai thought sardonically. Usually, to compensate for the few times they were having fun, the universe would rain down horrible, traumatic experiments tenfold just because it could, which was why Mai didn't put too much faith in fate, given her experiences in how it usually just fucked her over and then laughed about it.

'At least someone can be legally arrested for an assassination attempt,' contradicted Ty Lee seriously. 'I can't chain someone up and throw them in prison just because they're wearing awful shoes that don't match the rest of their outfit. And believe me, I wish I could. I mean, I've spent nearly two months in prison and I still believe that fashion violators should go there. They deserve it.'

Mai just snorted and took Ty Lee's wrist. 'C'mon, they're discussing where we should go next. We should probably weigh in if we want to stay and help Azula.'

They ran back to the cave, only to find the rest of the group sans a sleeping Appa and Momo sitting in a circle around the unlit fireplace.

'Oh good, you're here,' Katara said, gesturing for them to take a seat.

Ty Lee and Mai sat down gracefully into cross-legged positions, mimicking the rest of the group. 'So. What's our plan?' asked Mai bluntly.

Zuko squinted at Ty Lee. 'What's up with your hair?'

Ty Lee put a hand to her new shoulder-length locks protectively, lip trembling. 'Someone decided she would just chop it off my head because she wanted to,' she snapped, her tone scathing despite the tears in her eyes that revealed her distressed state.

Mai just groaned. She'd been so caught up in missing Ty Lee's upbeat attitude that she'd almost forgotten the crazy emotional mood swings that came with the territory. She didn't know how Azula stood it. Somehow, Ty Lee was even more emotional around Azula, if that was even possible. Mai supposed that the acrobat's passion compensated for Azula's complete indifference and disinterest in anything that wouldn't help her in her path to gain power and the throne.

Well, to be fair, that wasn't exactly true, Mai mused. _She_ was the indifferent one, not Azula. Azula took interest in a lot of things that didn't really help her win the throne- for example, she had an extensive knowledge about dragons, of all things, that served absolutely no one since they'd gone extinct years ago. The princess had also fantasised about running away years ago with Ty Lee and Mai, back when she was a child and her father treated her horribly, thinking that it would strengthen her and shape her into someone tough enough to lead armies, and so Azula also had an immense knowledge of edible plants, first-aid, hunting and other essential survival skills. Of course, she never actually acted on her wish, but she always dreamt of one day escaping her father's borderline torturous methods of preparing her to inherit the throne, dreams that she only shared with Ty Lee and Mai, because who would believe that the perfect princess destined to rule the world if only she behaved wanted to run away? Who would believe such a ludicrous notion coming from two rich, noble, airheaded young girls? Azula knew no one would take her companions seriously, and so did Mai and Ty Lee.

Zuko glared at Mai. 'Why would you do that to Ty Lee? Can't you see how distressed she looks?'

Mai shot him a furious look and his mouth immediately closed of its own accord. 'Don't pretend like you didn't just use her distress as an excuse to get mad at me,' she snapped. 'And anyway,' she continued before Zuko could get a word in edgewise, 'her braid is too iconic. She's had it for years, and it needed to go. Every guard who's ever been assigned to Azula and most nobles can recognize her face, and they can definitely recognize her braid. It was _literally_ the fashion trend in the years we were at school, and Ty Lee singlehandedly got it to trend in the get-togethers of most of Caldera's elite upper-class nobles.'

Katara shot her an amused, but questioning look.

Mai sighed. She couldn't believe she was about to divulge personal information to this ragtag bunch of peasants herself. _Fuck it, no one's ever really listened to me before. I'm doing this. And besides, it's not exactly classified information anyway._ 'We were the darlings of the Fire Nation- the golden princess and her two rich, well-connected companions. That's why everyone tried to be us, basically, especially at school,' she explained, almost smiling as she remembered the times they'd had. 'It was kind of ironic, really, because no one actually liked us- they just respected us out of fear enough to want to be us. My hairstyle was too intricate to replicate- thanks to my darling mother making me get up at five in the morning just so she could make me look presentable- and Azula's high topknot with a red silk ribbon was reserved for royalty only. It was considered extremely disrespectful if you tried to replicate it, bordering on treason and insolence towards the royal family. So Ty Lee's was the only choice,' she explained.

'Huh,' said Toph. 'I can relate to that. My family was pretty rich, too. They always made me follow every single fashion trend that spread through the citizens of the upper-class Earth Kingdom.' She scowled. 'I hated every second of those stupid, frilly, heavy dresses. I don't know how you guys could stand it. I could barely even see in those stupid heels they put me in.'

Ty Lee snickered. 'Azula hated those too. She always kept weapons under her dresses just in case things got interesting, though. Not that she really needed them.'

_'Anyway,'_ Sokka cut in, 'what's our game plan for what comes next?'

'We stay in the Fire Nation,' Ty Lee said the same time as Aang said, 'We leave to the Earth Kingdom.'

They looked at each other, grey eyes meeting grey.

'Okay,' Aang started out slowly, 'why don't we all suggest options and take a vote?'

'There's no time for peaceful discussion, Aang!' interrupted Sokka impatiently. 'We can't stay here for long. We're bound to be discovered, so we need to go.'

'Why?' Suki challenged, becoming rather irate at her boyfriend's inability to compromise with anyone. 'Everyone thinks Aang is dead. No one will be out searching for us.'

_'Us,' _emphasized Sokka. 'No one will be out searching for us. But you can bet that the entirety of Caldera is searching for _those_ two after their prison escape.'

He pointed at Mai and Ty Lee, the former of whom felt something like a stone drop into her stomach. _Of course,_ Mai grimaced. _How could I not realize that? We killed an entire _tower_ of guards- or rather, Azula did. Thanks a lot, Azula, that really helped. I guess that makes us a high security threat to Caldera, which is really fucking amazing, because now you can be sure they won't just want us to be executed- they'll want our bodies cut open and our heads on a pike. Great._

The rest of the group seemed to come to the same conclusion. _'Now_ do you see my reasoning?' sighed Sokka patronizingly.

Mai was seriously considering just straight-up slapping him in the face to shut him up. She didn't know if she could stand another word coming out of his mouth. But she was loathe to admit that he did have a good point, despite it being wrapped up in his normal infuriating nature of speaking. Agni, had no one taught him proper enunciation? Water Tribe citizens were savages, the lot of them. Mai shivered at what her parents would think of her, a nobleman's daughter deigning to converse with Water Tribe barbarians. She supposed she could stand Katara, if the girl would just learn when to shut up sometimes. But she absolutely could not- and would not- stand another day with Sokka.

And suddenly, the answer came to her. 'We split up,' said Mai.

Everyone turned to look at her in shock. Toph was the first to regain her breath. 'What?' she demanded.

'You rescued us from prison,' shrugged Mai. 'Thanks. I guess. But now, what use do we really have for each other? Like, really. I know you've all been thinking it, so don't attack me for saying it just because everyone else was being fucking cowards. This way, everyone wins. Ty Lee and I can break off from this little group, and leave you guys to... gallivant off to wherever,' she finished, lip curling in distaste.

'No,' said Suki abruptly, standing up.

'I'm with Suki,' said Aang. 'I don't want us to split up.'

'Aang, please, don't interrupt me,' said Suki. 'I would- if it wasn't for the fact that Mai and Ty Lee know you're alive.'

Ty Lee furrowed her eyebrows. 'I'm sorry, what?' she asked, confused, but Mai understood immediately, a sinking expression on her face.

'Oh,' said Mai. 'We're your prisoners.'

Aang stood up. 'What?' he demanded angrily. 'We don't take prisoners!'

'Yes,' Suki contradicted softly, looking at Mai and Ty Lee with an expression that neither of them could quite place. 'We do. The only way is for us to split up, that much is true, but someone needs to stay with Mai and Ty Lee.'

Sokka stood up as well. 'Suki!' he exclaimed in disbelief, staring at his girlfriend. 'Do you even hear what you're saying?'

'Yeah,' Toph agreed, 'what are you talking about?'

Suki cleared her throat. 'I'm _saying,'_ she said, and her tone was so stern and so commanding that no one dared interrupt, 'that Mai and Ty Lee could betray us. If we go back to the Earth Kingdom, they could easily tell the Fire Nation that the Avatar's alive. They might be traitors, but before that they were the Fire Nation's darlings- Mai said so herself.'

Mai looked down at her prim, folded hands, eyes burning in anger. She'd dug her own grave.

'Even if the source is unreliable, a mere rumour that the Avatar is alive is something that will send the Phoenix King into a panic. He'll send out troops, and they'll be bigger and more lethal than we could ever hope to imagine. He has the _entire world_ under his thumb,' Suki said, as if pleading for them to understand. 'We won't stand a chance. If Azula needs them-' her mouth twisted in displeasure at Azula's name- 'then they need to stay here. As much as I hate Azula- and I really, _really_ hate her- she's the only powerful ally we have right now. I'm a warrior. I know the rules of war, and how important it is to have powerful allies on your side. Azula could turn the tide for us- but we can't trust her, or them. One or two of us needs to stay here with Mai and Ty Lee, and the rest of us need to get Aang to safety.'

Aang spluttered. 'You don't need to be my babysitters! I don't need you guys to get me to safety- I want to help! I want to help overthrow Phoenix King Ozai! Please, can someone just listen to _me_ instead of your own opinion of what you think is best for me?!'

'I agree with Suki,' said Katara, quietly but firmly.

'So do I,' Zuko said.

Aang looked at them, betrayal evident in his eyes. 'What?'

'Everyone here is willing to sacrifice themselves so you can live, Aang,' Katara explained patiently. 'Everyone but those two.' And she jerked her thumb at Mai and Ty Lee. 'Which makes them a liability. And liabilities-' she paused, and Mai wasn't sure if it was because her brain was too slow to keep up with her mouth or if it was for dramatic effect- 'need to be taken care of.'

'So what?' Aang exclaimed angrily. 'What are you even proposing, Katara? Are you suggesting we kill them or something, just because they aren't willing to _lay down their life for me?'_

'Um,' Ty Lee began, tentatively raising a hand, 'we're right here, you know-'

'Of course we're not going to kill them when we went to all that trouble to get them in the first place!' groaned Toph, flopping on her back. 'You know what?' she asked rhetorically. 'That's it. I'm out. I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when you guys have decided where we're headed, I don't care.' And she earthbended the ground around her into a tiny stone tent, complete with doors on opposite sides, that probably worked wonders for keeping out noise.

Katara envied Toph, and turned the burning indignation within her at Aang. _'Of course_ I'm not suggesting we kill them!' she exclaimed, horrified. 'I can't believe you'd even say that! Do you really think so low of me?!'

Aang looked shocked, and stumbled backwards a few steps, his hands raised up in surrender. 'No- no, of course not,' he interjected hastily. 'I just-'

'You just _what?'_ demanded Katara, bending the water out of her pouch, much to Aang's openmouthed, stunned shock.

'Um- guys, there are-' Ty Lee started.

Zuko rushed in between Katara and Aang, sensing things were about to get heated. 'Okay, that's it-'

'No, I want to see how this plays out,' said Mai loudly, and waved a dismissive hand at Zuko, smirking. 'C'mon, Zuko. You wouldn't get in the way of letting me see what's bound to be a kickass fight between the Avatar and his little water peasant girlfriend, would you?'

'Guys, please listen to me, there are people outside-' began Ty Lee once again.

'Step aside, Zuko,' growled Katara, raising a water whip at him.

'We don't have to fight!' Aang exclaimed uselessly. His voice was drowned out by Sokka and Suki shouting their differing opinions at each other incredibly angrily.

'Can someone listen to me?! Look outside the cave, there are-' Ty Lee was cut off once again, her eyes darting nervously to the mouth of the cave.

Zuko lit a fire in his hand. 'Katara, please-'

'Don't you 'Katara, please' me!' yelled Katara. 'You go around pretending to be the peacemaker between our little group, but the truth is, the only reason things have become this way is because of you! _Everything-'_ she gestured around the cave with the free hand that wasn't holding the water whip in place- 'is because of you! We rescued your girlfriends because Azula told us to! We aren't going to the Earth Kingdom because they're saying so! Has anyone ever stopped to consider that this could just be one big ploy, one big trap to get Aang?! Has everyone just forgotten what happened to the Earth Kingdom just a _month_ ago?! Has everyone forgotten-' and she paused, as it to deliver the final blow- 'where Zuko _came from_ before he was with us?!'

As soon as the words left her mouth, everyone went still, as if in shock. Zuko wore a horrified, betrayed expression on his face that hit an immediately remorseful Katara like a blow to the stomach. She opened her mouth to say something, to apologize, but Mai beat her to it.

Mai's slow, smug clapping was the only sound filling the walls of the cave. It seemed as if even the very air had gone completely still. Not that it wasn't possible, what with Aang's airbending.

'Well, look at you, Katara,' drawled Mai, looking like the cat who'd caught the canary. 'You're really hitting below the belt with those punches, huh? But, you know, as much as I'd love to stay and watch your cute little fight with my ex-boyfriend play out, we have to go.'

'What are you _talking_ about, Mai?' snapped Katara impatiently.

'Like, she means that there are soldiers coming for us right now and we have to get out,' explained Ty Lee rapidly, relieved that no one was talking over her for once.

'Yeah,' Zuko said slowly, as if they were dumb. 'We _know._ That's partly why this whole thing was happening.'

Ty Lee half-screamed impatiently. 'No, you moron!' she exclaimed, gesturing to the mouth of the cave. 'For fuck's sake, there are soldiers right there! Literally right there! I've been trying to tell you but you all just talked over me! They're scaling the cliff that leads up to the cave- are you all just blind or what?! _We_ were the only ones who noticed because you were too busy arguing!'

A dead silence ensued. 'What?' breathed Katara in disbelief as they turned towards the direction Ty Lee was pointing in.

Sure enough, when they looked towards the mouth of the cave, they could indeed make out faint figures that could only be soldiers, scaling the cliff that led to the outcrop of rock and forest, which in turn led to their secluded cave. How the Fire Nation had managed to find them was a total mystery, however. A frisson of fear went through Mai. Hadn't they been careful to leave no trace that could be used to lead soldiers to them? Was she actually not as good as she thought she was? There was no time to dwell on that, though- not with an attack that was not oncoming in a few seconds.

Sokka looked smug. 'Well, I guess that settles it,' he declared. 'To the Earth Kingdom we go.'

Suki punched him hard on the shoulder, evidently disgruntled.

Suddenly, the walls of Toph's makeshift tent sank back into the ground, revealing her curled up in a seating position. She pointed blindly to the mouth of the cave. 'There's something there. Some people scaling the walls, I can feel it. I think they might be soldiers!'

'Thanks, genius, but you're like five seconds too late,' sighed Mai, drawing out her knives from her sleeves in one fluid motion. 'Ty Lee and I will hold them off. Whatever you do, don't let them see Aang. He's our ace.'

_'Our_ ace?!' Katara demanded indignantly, but Mai and Ty Lee had already charged into battle, with Sokka, Suki, Zuko and Toph hot on their heels.

Katara whirled around to look at Aang, her expression indescribable. 'Aang...' she started, but Aang had an understanding, solemn look in his eyes.

'I know you want to fight,' said Aang with a heavy sigh. 'It's... it's alright. You don't need to stay behind and protect me. If worst comes to worst, I'll escape on Appa before they can catch me.' He had a sad expression on his face.

'No, it's not that,' said Katara quickly. 'Well, actually, it is. But it's not _just_ about that. Aang... I've been thinking. I think we- as in, our group- should split up.'

Aang's eyes widened. 'What? Katara-'

'No, just- hear me out,' she continued. 'Look, you know waterbending, Aang. You don't really need me for that anymore.'

'What?!' Aang demanded. 'But you're better than me at waterbending by tenfold- you _know_ that! Of course I need you, Katara!'

Katara allowed a small smile to slip onto her face. 'True,' she admitted. 'I am better than you. But that's only because I've been practicing it for most of my life, and because I don't have the responsibility of mastering all the other elements as well as waterbending, like you. Look, Aang, you might not be a master waterbender, but you know _enough_. You know more about it than earthbending or firebending, anyway. And also-' she broke off, looking down at her hands guiltily. 'This isn't just about us anymore, Aang. The Fire Nation rules the world now, and they're running everything that wasn't originally theirs or the colonies to the ground. They _razed_ the _entire Earth Kingdom_ to the ground. As much as I hate to admit it, whatever Azula is trying to do to gain the throne- well, she's our best chance, and I'm going to try and help. You can't stay here. If the Fire Nation ever finds you-' she paused, blue eyes filling with tears.

'Katara, it's okay-' Aang tried to console, stepping forward to put a hand on her shoulder.

'No,' she said roughly, wiping her eyes harshly with the back of her wrist. 'Let me finish. If the Fire Nation finds you, they're not going to kill you. You heard Zuko. There are things his father does that are worse than death, and they won't want you to reincarnate, Aang. They'll keep you alive, but barely. And I-' she choked on her own tears briefly- they were streaming down her face in torrents and she was making no effort to wipe them away- 'I never want that to happen to you. This is war. At least if I get captured, I'll have the mercy of a quick death. You won't.'

'Don't say that!' exclaimed Aang, alarmed. 'Katara, you're not going to die! You're too smart and too quick and too clever to get captured, I just know it!'

'And everyone else wasn't?' challenged Katara, rising up in anger, but then deflating again, like a descending hot air balloon. 'Look, Aang, people smarter than me and quicker than me and cleverer than me have been captured. But at least they were out there making a _difference,_ making their sacrifices _count._ Hiding out, like we've done this past month, hasn't made a dent in anything. I've made my decision, and I'm staying in the Fire Nation with Mai and Ty Lee.'

'No,' breathed Aang softly. 'No, Katara, you can't!'

Katara had a sea of regret in her eyes. 'I'm sorry, Aang,' she said truthfully. 'But it's for the best. You can't stay here. You have to go with Sokka, Suki, Zuko and Toph- that's the only thing that will make sense. You need physical training and experience in weapons, you haven't mastered earthbending, and you _definitely_ haven't mastered firebending, which is why you lost the battle during Sozin's Comet. Consider it... homework, from your waterbending sifu.' She smiled.

'Thanks for reminding me about the comet,' muttered Aang. 'It's not like I felt bad enough about it already.'

Katara took Aang's hands in her own. 'I don't know when we'll see each other again,' she said honestly, 'so I want to give you something to remember me by.'

'I could never forget you, Katara,' said Aang immediately, but he was stunned speechless when Katara lifted her hands to the back of her neck, unlatched her mother's necklace, and dropped it into Aang's palm. 'Katara...' He looked at her in disbelief. 'But... this is your mother's necklace. You... you can't just...'

'I trust you,' said Katara simply. 'So don't lose it. Now, I'll get Sokka, Suki, Zuko and Toph, and then you have to go.'

She turned to leave, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. 'Wait!' said Aang, before he could lose his nerve. 'Don't I get a kiss for luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?'

Katara drew the water from her pouch and stared at the soldiers fighting their group at the mouth of the cave. 'Come back alive, Twinkletoes,' she said, using Toph's nickname for him, and flashed him a watery smile. 'Then, we'll see.'

**(A/N: to all the pjo fans out there yeah that's a percabeth reference lmao i'm sorry i couldn't resist)**

* * *

Azula tasted blood.

Her lip was bleeding from biting on it, and she was horrified to see the huge sore on it in the mirror. What had she been reduced to? She was Fire Lord Azula, and she did not have bad habits like chewing on her nails or her lips. And speaking of her nails, they were practically nibbled to stubs. The royal manicurist had nearly cried that morning when Azula had gone for her weekly beauty appointment. She had always had such perfect nails, the manicurist lamented, what had happened?

Azula considered banishing him on the spot for deigning to talk to her without permission, but she was seeing her father today and she really needed for everything to be perfect- especially her nails. He hated if she had even one hair out of place. Like she was an ornament, a doll, and not a living, breathing person.

She breathed in and out slowly, watching her chest rise and fall in the mirror.

Agni, she hated mirrors.

Whenever she looked at them, a carbon copy of her mother stared back at her. Her father had liked that about her, for some twisted reason. She looked nothing like her father- that was all Zuko. No, she looked like Princess Ursa, and there were days when she found herself almost envying Zuko's jarring scar marring his face- at least there was something that distinguished him from becoming a young Ozai. There was nothing that distinguished her from her mother, except her hairstyle- one of the reasons why she hated having her hair down. Not even her royal hairpin made it to the infuriatingly short list of what separated her image from her mother's. It was still fit for a princess, and not a Fire Lord.

Dressed in her comfortingly familiar armour, she strode to the Phoenix King's throne room, projecting a confident, cool façade that did not feel like her at all. As she passed, the servants immediately stopped what they were doing and kowtowed to her. It used to feel good, but now she just felt empty. Her body was simply a hard, empty exoskeleton that absorbed shocks for her. It didn't need to. It wasn't like she had really felt anything inside, felt anything resonate within her for a long time.

Well... that wasn't entirely true. When Ty Lee had kissed her, Azula had felt for the first time as if she was on fire and enjoyed it. Of course, she'd been on fire before- her father had burnt her plenty of times where no one would see, and never as severely as he'd burnt Zuko, so her wounds would heal. But this fire had felt different. It had felt like life. Nothing like the scathing, all-consuming rage her father regularly inflicted upon her that meant she was defying death just by daring to survive it.

Of course, she could have resisted his wrath if she'd tried- firebenders could do that, make themselves immune to other people's fire if they concentrated hard enough. It was something like a shield of immunity that was important to maintain when firebending. In combat and especially Agni Kais, that shield was one of the most important things to uphold- if not, your opponent would burn you and subsequently win the Agni Kai. Azula had put that shield up so many times that it had become an part of her that she never took down, a reflex that automatically sprung into action whenever she saw fire coming at her. These days, she didn't even need to think about it- it naturally came to her. However, she painstakingly took it down whenever her father wanted to take the brunt of his anger out on her. It wouldn't do to make her father mad, not when so much was at stake.

No matter what her father did to her, she was still so angry at herself and terrified out of her wits if she ever disappointed him.

_I'll have to get rid of that feeling,_ Azula thought to herself. _There's too much at stake for me to still strive so hard to please my father- not when I'm literally planning to overthrow him._

Her mind flickered back to Ty Lee's lips on hers. They had tasted sweet and metallic and earthy, for some reason. Must've been the sweets Ty Lee had almost certainly gotten her hands on even whilst in prison, obviously obtained with the help of a little flirtatious behaviour towards the guards, and the blood that had smeared her lips, along with the thin layer of dirt that had coated it-

_Are you really analyzing what your kiss tasted like?_ chided a familiar, fatherly voice in Azula's head.

_It was the first kiss I had that made me feel something_, Azula imagined herself saying defensively. Not that she'd ever say that to her father in real life.

_It meant nothing to you. _She_ means nothing to you._

Azula's resolve flickered. Her internal voice seemed to be about to say something, but decided against it. After all, she wouldn't want to disappoint her father by revealing that she really wasn't the perfect daughter he had always groomed her to be. She wouldn't want to let him down. She wouldn't want to make him mad.

_Yes, Father._

She hated herself, she hated herself, she _hated_ herself.

'Can't even stand up to him in my own head,' muttered Azula bitterly, rubbing her temples.

A servant passing by shot her a confused look, but was smart enough to bow respectfully when Azula narrowed her eyes at him.

As she strode towards the throne room, she wondered what news her father had for her that had caused him to summon her so urgently. For Agni's sake, she had barely had two minutes to don her armour. But then again, he never had that much respect for her time. Or really for her at all.

Guards opened the doors to the throne room for her. Walls of blazing bright red fire burned before her as she slowly walked towards her father's throne and kowtowed before him, trying not to show how humiliatingly terrified she was. 'Good afternoon, Father,' she said, congratulating herself internally for managing to eliminate the trembles in her voice.

'Azula,' he said warmly, gesturing to the red cushions on the floor lying next to her. 'Take a seat.'

Azula looked up quickly, barely managing to disguise the shock in her eyes. What was happening?

'I am sure you expected me to berate you on the escape of your former companions, Mai and Ty Lee,' said Phoenix King Ozai. 'But I will not waste my time on scoldings fit for a child rather than a Fire Lord. And I have learnt from your continuous, repetitive mistakes that words never really... sink in for you, do they?'

Azula put together what was going to happen quickly. _This is it. I can take it. I've taken worse burns before. At least he won't do it on my face- I can't afford to be marred, not when I have so many public appearances to make._ 'No, Father,' said Azula quietly, feeling sick to her stomach.

'Don't look like that,' chuckled Ozai, as if he could see the fear written all over his daughter's face- as if it was hard. 'I'm not going to hurt you.'

_Really? I find that hard to believe, considering your past track record,_ thought Azula wryly. 'Thank you, Father,' she said finally, not knowing what else to say.

'I just think,' continued Ozai delicately, still wearing that eerie, composed smile on his face, 'that you need to know your place. And I have realized that I cannot do that to you with any sort of physical or verbal punishment to teach you a valuable lesson of where you stand, so I have turned to other means.'

Azula's stomach sank. Ozai looked calm, composed, amused, almost. Which meant the worst was coming. _What could be worse than the punishments he inflicts on me?_ She desperately tried to rack her brains for an answer, but none was forthcoming. Although she had a sinking feeling that she was about to find out very soon.

'Send him in,' commanded Ozai to the guards.

_Send who in? What's going on?_ Azula was being kept in the dark, and she didn't like it. However, she obediently remained seated, facing her father, as she heard the doors swing open once more to part for a set of loud, heavy footsteps.

'Phoenix King Ozai,' said a familiar voice.

Azula felt a jolt of shock run through her. She would know that pompous, overconfident voice anywhere.

_Admiral Zhao._

'Admiral,' said Ozai easily, gesturing for him to take the seat next to Azula. He did so, flashing her a sadistic grin as he did so. Azula did her best to feign a polite smile, shooting a look at her father out of the corner of her eye as if to ask, _what is going on?_

'Before I say anything, Azula, this is just a reminder that everything that is going to happen could have been so easily avoided,' said Ozai soothingly, as if he wasn't the one who was obviously in charge of whatever this whole punishment would be. It was infuriating to sit back demurely and take her father's patronizing tone lying down, but Azula clamped her mouth shut and looked at the ground. 'If you hadn't let Mai and Ty Lee get rescued by what's left of the Avatar's ragtag team of heroes, this would never have happened. Or it would have, but... perhaps when you were older. But now, I feel as if I have no choice.' He sighed melodramatically.

Azula's eyes widened. 'But Father- are you quite sure they were rescued? They could've- they could've broken out on their own!' she interjected, trying to sound reasonable and not desperate.

Ozai fixed his daughter with a level glare. 'The Avatar's group of children are the only people who oppose me now,' he said. 'It could only have been them. Everyone else knows it is hopeless to fight me. And Mai and Ty Lee clearly did not escape on their own. They were stripped of their weapons the minute they were thrown into the Boiling Rock, and every single guard in that tower had been killed, which could only have occurred in the scenario that the Avatar's team provided them with weapons and aid. You should have never trusted them, Azula- they were your one weakness. And that Mai girl was always too close to Zuko.' His mouth twisted in disgust as he uttered Zuko's name.

Azula tried to fight the angry tears as she was reminded of Mai's betrayal, and her final parting words- _I love Zuko more than I fear you._ 'Yes, Father,' she said obediently. 'I will hunt them down myself, as well as Zuko.'

'Oh, there's no need,' said Ozai airily. 'A group of soldiers caught them this morning hiding out in a cave, including a few members of the Avatar's team. Their execution is scheduled in a few days.'

The words were like a punch to Azula's chest. 'What?' she stammered out softly.

Admiral Zhao seemed to take her horror as admiration and grinned- an ugly, twisted thing on his mouth. 'Yes, isn't it amazing? Just picture it- my soldiers responsible for the legendary defeat of the last of the straggling survivors of the Avatar's ragtag group of children, crushing the last hope any rebels could ever hold-'

'I do not remember permitting you to talk,' said Ozai coldly.

Admiral Zhao immediately fell silent. 'My sincerest apologies, my lord,' he muttered, not meeting Ozai's eyes.

'My only regret is that your soldiers failed to capture that blind little earthbender girl, that Water Tribe peasant and his little Kyoshi warrior girlfriend,' continued Ozai. 'They escaped on the Avatar's flying bison. Did you see, or were you too busy staying on the sidelines and making your soldiers fight for you?'

Admiral Zhao turned crimson. 'My lord, I-'

'I still have not given you permission to talk,' said Ozai icily.

The words swirled around in Azula's mind, not making sense no matter which way she slotted them together. Her father had referred to Suki by her warrior title, and not just dismissed her as a random girl travelling with Team Avatar- that meant he knew about her, knew who she was. Which meant others definitely knew, too, and if Team Avatar had used Suki to go to the market to buy supplies- which Azula strongly suspected they had, probably thinking that Suki was the only one of them who wouldn't have been recognized- it would have been so, so easy for one Fire Nation spy to follow her back to the cave and would've taken only a few hours for the spy to gather a team to take Team Avatar down.

If Sokka, Toph and Suki had escaped on Appa, and her father hadn't mentioned Aang, did that mean the Fire Nation didn't know he was alive yet? Did that mean the rebels still had their ace? But Mai, Ty Lee, and Zuko getting captured again, not even twenty-four hours after they'd just broken out of prison... and _Katara,_ Azula realized with a shock. The little waterbending peasant hadn't been mentioned in the list of people who had escaped the soldiers, and Azula highly doubted her father had just forgotten about the Avatar's little girlfriend, who was- loathe though Azula was to admit it- one of the greatest waterbending prodigies she'd ever seen. Though Azula admittedly hadn't seen a lot of waterbenders, so it was a pretty low standard to live up to. But that meant Katara must've been captured as well.

Azula couldn't breathe. She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. No, no, this couldn't be happening- it just couldn't. All her carefully-made plans were falling apart so, so quickly- this just _wasn't how it was supposed to go._ She forced herself to take deep, controlled breaths. 'I see,' said Azula carefully. 'I am ready to accept any punishment you will give to me, Father.'

Ozai's lip curled. 'See, I don't think you will,' he started, a cruel gleam in his eye. 'This is... nothing like you've ever been through before. This particular plan of mine has been in the works for a long, long time. But I suppose you have no choice but to accept, if you want the throne one day.'

Azula's heartbeat pounded in her throat. Whatever was coming couldn't be good.

Ozai seemed to relish the expression on her face. The atmosphere was so tense you could slice a knife through it. Azula looked up at her father, waiting, waiting, waiting.

'Azula, my daughter,' he finally said grandly, 'I believe you have met Admiral Zhao. Do you know him well?

Azula looked at Admiral Zhao, who smiled at her much like a predator to their prey. 'I can't say that I do,' she said eventually, fighting to keep her voice steady as his eyes raked over her like she was a piece of meat.

Ozai smirked. 'Well, you're about to know him very well. After all, we can't have the Fire Lord and her future husband acting like complete strangers to each other, now can we?'

The impact of the words was not lost on Azula. 'Future husband?' she breathed, so softly that Ozai almost couldn't hear it.

'Yes,' Ozai said. 'You see, you two are going to marry in two months' time.'

Azula's heart stopped.

* * *

**Hi! Sorry for the long wait, guys, but exam season's been killing me these past few weeks so I really haven't had a chance to update all that much. However, Chinese New Year's here which means I finally have a holiday (even though I still have to go back to school for my Spanish lessons ahaha, they were postponed because of the protests we've had for the past couple of months around here), so I'll probably get another update out in a week or so. Anyway, reviews are always appreciated and I really hope you guys like this new chapter!**


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